


Your Gravity Has a Hold Of Me

by t0bemadeofglass



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Explicit Language, F/M, Fraternities & Sororities, Heavy Drinking, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Masturbation, Obsessive Behavior, Older Man/Younger Woman, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Possessive Behavior, References to Drugs, Underage Drinking, Unrequited Lust, WIP, Woman on Top
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-05-19 18:41:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5977144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t0bemadeofglass/pseuds/t0bemadeofglass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was something so visceral, so idealistic and pure and wonderful about the first rushing party of the year. The new recruits were refreshingly gullible, and so easy to fool it very nearly take him ashamed to take advantage of their wide eyed innocence and eager to please attitudes. Nearly. This was where he belonged, where they looked at him like he hung the moon and the stars, where the beer came free, the music quieted the disappointed voices of his parents in his head, and where he didn’t have to be Ben Solo anymore. </p><p>Until he meets Rey, of course, and all of his carefully crafted plans and ideas go to shit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the song Blindfold by Sleeping Wolf. Amazing song, seriously.  
> Here is the Frat!AU I've been promising, and though it was originally prompted to be something fluffy, and I'm assuming a one-shot, it . . . has evolved, to say the least.  
> Hope that's okay, Nonnie <3  
> That being said, I'm super pumped about this :DD Thank you so much for reading, and I hope that you enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> This first chapter has some references to underage drinking, to the members of the Phi Omega Frat being sleeze-balls and engaging in putting girls in some dub-conny situations, implication of possible non/dub-con sex, spiking drinks, etc. so if that's a trigger for you I'd suggest skipping to the near end of the chapter =/ Just a heads up!

The first party of the year was expected to go off without a single kink in the execution. These sort of things tended to fall right into place when the cops easy enough to buy off and the liquor was discounted significantly so they could order as much as they wanted. Tonight would be no different than any other evening at the Phi Omega house just because it was a new year. They’d hired an up and coming DJ who’d been rumored to already have his first tour as soon as he graduated, and his music pulsed around Kylo, through him, resonating within the packed house as the slow, sensual beat brought him to grin into the lips of his cup. 

In the center of the main floor stood a pair of girls on their antique coffee table he’d done many a line off of in the past. They gyrated their hips to the music, fingers teasing the hems of their shirts, eyes glassy and bloodshot when they looked up and around. Their lithe bodies swayed with unapologetic ease, loosened by the liquor they’d been given though they looked nowhere near 21 years old.  He recognized the wide eyed innocence of Freshmen from a mile away, practically able to smell the fresh blood. It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to guess that Hux had been the one to supply them with whatever it was in their cups, the pair of them looking no older than 18 even if he hadn’t been able to practically smell the fact that they were Freshmen, and painfully unaware of how the whole college party scene worked. The longer they stayed, the more shots and free beer they’d be given until their inhibitions were low enough to make them relatively easy targets, and Kylo had to admit it made the evening all the more enjoyable. Not that it would take all that much to get these girls drunk off their asses. If he had to make an educated guess he’d have to say they were country girls, untainted, wide-eyed waifs whose experience drinking was likely either minimal, or they weren’t familiar with the stronger liquor that Hux was known to throw into the drinks whenever the co-eds weren’t looking. 

They’d learn soon enough, he thought as he took a sip of his own beer again, bemused to see one of the girls shuck her shirt to the floor. The red lace of her bra standing out like a beacon for Kylo’s gaze, her grin slow and sloppy as it played on her face, cheeks reddening to match her lingerie. There came a wolf whistle from Lyse, who’d found a spot just in front of the table, his eyes wide and his smile like that of a hungry infant receiving its first meal. 

Beer, and drunken freshmen, made asinine parties like this all the more enjoyable; more liquor meant they’d have less time to talk his ear off, meant less he’d have to pretend to be interested in whatever rainforest it was they were interested in saving, which puppies they were protecting, what orphanage they volunteered at. Honestly, the amount of fucking sycophantic idiots that surrounded him and the other members of Phi Omega never failed to surprise him. It came with the title of being a member. The fraternity was one of the oldest on campus, established shortly after the college was founded in the late 1800s, and the illustrious past members stretched back to the President of the college himself. Lucky for them, too, as he turned a blind eye to the less than savory deeds carried out just under his nose. Why wouldn’t he, when if he condemned them he’d only be admitting to having partaken in something similar? No, they didn’t discuss the rituals, the traditions, of the fraternity with anyone else. No one else had earned the right to be privy to the knowledge, and the fraternity was strengthened by its exclusivity.

All the more reason Kylo had been keen to belong to it.

His eyes scanned the rest of the teeming crowds that surrounded had made their way to the party, having the perfect angle to view the spectacle from his perch on the enormous bannister connecting the main floor and top one. He eyed the assortment of men and women at the very edge of the room playing strip poker, already halfway through the game given the nature of undress of a few of the girls. Whether they were losing intentionally or not he couldn’t say for certain, but it wouldn’t have been the first time. Others, not members of the First Order but some other fraternity, drifted like satellites from the indoor party scene to the outdoors to smoke, the skunky scent of weed and cigarettes following shortly after through the open windows. A small group of freshmen girls were taking mollies down near the bar, the tablets bright on their tongues and their fingers jittery at the expectation of what was to come. The rooms just upstairs, built for this purpose, were bound to start filling up any time now thanks to those small tablets, and he’d be sure to make himself scarce before they did. Even with the loud music and chatter he had a terrible habit of overhearing when one of his brothers took a girl to bed. Their shrill screams of half-faked pleasure had all the appeal of nails scraping down a chalkboard.

He wasn’t looking for a repeat of the experience. 

With ease he made his way down the banister and slid through the crowd, grinning at how they parted for him like the sea had for Moses. It wasn’t just that he’d joined up with Phi Omega, or that his grandfather was Anakin Skywalker, an alumni himself of the fraternity who’d gone on to be one of the most well known business men of his time. He was a legacy, certainly, and as such he’d been handpicked to proceed through trials of a second kind, the sort where being damn good at lying, cheating, and getting away with intimidation came in handy. The Knights of Ren had offered him a position, and in their all knowing hands Ben Solo had been wiped clean and remade Kylo Ren. 

He supposed he was bound to have a few good traits because of Han. 

A commotion in the kitchen snapped at his attention, the sound of something being shoved hard against the wall. Some _ one _ likely. He gritted his teeth, wondering who’d missed the memo about fighting as he stepped towards the voice of an irate sounding woman. From what he could make out the inflections of her words were lilted, so before he even saw her he filed her away as an exchange student. When he rounded the bend to stand in the doorway of their rather crowded kitchen he found that a ring had already been made around a pair of bodies. The girl hardly stood taller than a little over five and a half feet, dressed in a simple pair of khaki leggings and a cream tank top, but she had Everard Kwillam, Kwill, shoved up against the countertop with her hand fisted in his shirt. Even from where Kylo stood he could see that her eyes were bright, and that the pink tinging her cheeks he was guessing had little to do with alcohol. Her words were far too well formed and she seemed far more cognisant than Kwill. 

“You don’t  _ fucking  _ touch me again,” she snarled, teeth bared as her thin lips pulled back, more wolf than girl in a room full of sheep. She had to stand on her tiptoes in order to get in his face like she wanted, and the sight had Kylo grinning in spite of himself. Kwill was a damn big man, broad in the shoulders, thickly muscled, and about as tall as Kylo was himself, but that wasn’t stopping this woman in the slightest. 

Kwill licked his lips as he looked down at her, eyes narrowed, glassy with liquor. “C’mon, don’t you wanna see what I can offer you, babe?” He tried to sneak a hand around, his broad palm moving towards her ass. She caught it by the wrist and twisted. 

Kylo hadn’t known Kwill to shout in pain, but the squawk he gave couldn’t have been in anything else. Given the angle this girl had on his arm, Kylo couldn’t blame him in the slightest. Any more pressure from her and it might snap. No one lifted a damn finger as the brown haired girl snarled in his face, teeth flashing white, before releasing his arm and punching him hard in the gut. 

Kwill doubled over with a groan that Kylo felt in his bones, and she turned on her heel to leave. 

“Bunch of bloody helpful good samaritans you are,” Kylo heard her mutter as she shoved her way through the crowded figures, who let her go with minimal difficulty. She hardly came up past his chest when she strode past. Call it vain, simple curiosity, but Kylo found himself simply sidestepping to fall into step beside her. 

“What happened?” he asked, giving her a quick up down now that he was closer. There was a smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks that looked like the constellations on his uncle Luke’s astronomy maps, and couldn’t help but wonder just how far they spread over her small body. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind that she might not know who he was, and for that he blamed the beer, now going warm in his cup. 

The look she shot him was withering to say the least. “Excuse me?”

Kylo motioned with his head back towards the kitchen. As though she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, honestly. “With Kwill--what’d he do? I’m sure he deserved the punch, whatever it was he’d done.” 

She stopped mid stride, and he very nearly collided with a pair of coeds talking just in front of them. Her eyes fixed on him, and  _ fuck  _ why did it feel like she could see right through him? The blood in his veins turned to ice, his mouth tasted like ash, and he couldn’t  _ move  _ when she looked at him like that. 

“It’s not really any of your business.” Her voice was snipped, eyes questioning even as they narrowed. He was amazed by how much they moved, taking in every aspect of the room around them without settling down. Was she paranoid? Looking for the exits? Why’d she bother coming to a party if she was going to be this terrified of it? 

“Given that he’s one of my fraternity brothers, I’d say it is.” 

Here, she gave him a blatant up and down look, and he had to fight the urge to cross his arms over his chest, to hide under her gaze. How was she  _ doing _ this? His teeth clenched, and he felt his fists begin to curl, the need and base desire to hit something becoming overwhelmingly strong. He resisted the impulse, but only just barely. 

“Why don’t you bother asking him, then? I’m sure you’d take his side no matter what it is I told you.” 

Standing as close to her as he did he could smell the liquor on her breath, rum and something spicy. It made his mouth water, made him want to lean down, to press his lips to hers so he could taste her to see if she was as delicious as he thought. 

Where in the hell had  _ that  _ thought come from? He hid instead behind a sneer, tipping his head up to stare down his nose at her. Not that it was all that difficult, given how short she was. “If you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of then why are you insisting I’m not going to see things your way? If that’s how it all went down then that’s what he’ll tell me.” 

“And your lackeys always tell you the truth.” 

“Yes.” He didn’t correct her term. Maybe she did know who he was. That she didn’t care was something of a revelation to him. “They tend to make sure to.” 

“Hate to be around you when someone bursts  _ that  _ bubble.” She rolled her eyes and shoved past him. His arm burned where her shoulder had brushed against his, but not in pain. Nowhere near pain. “Whatever. I’m leaving, okay? I won’t bother you guys anymore.” 

Who said she was bothering anyone? He could feel the heat from the students around them, their eyes glancing off his figure and the girl moving away from him. He wanted to care, wanted desperately to pull away from this girl and get back to the party, get back to being above it all. Rise up above this. He was too close, too deeply involved, and it was going to show if he wasn’t careful. 

The realization that he should care came too late. 

He’d taken too long to respond and she was too far away for him to yell for her to stop. She wouldn't hear him anyway. Ignoring what good sense he had left, he  rushed through the student bodies that parted them, reached out, and caught her by the wrist. She twisted herself in his grip, but when she went to step around him he managed to crowd into the same space, taking them both off guard so that their chests were mere inches from one another. She caught his forearm in a tight grip, nails digging into his skin, as her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed. 

“What’s your name?” He might not have the chance to ask again, might not see her again; the campus was more than large enough. Something about that bothered him, went further than skin deep until it rotted away the very core of him.

For a moment she weighed her options as the tight line that was her mouth grew white around the edges. Finally, she spat out: “Rey,” and yanked herself free. Kylo, too off guard by sounding out the name to himself, didn’t even realize she was already halfway across the house, and he was hard as a fucking rock in his jeans. 

 

If he took a brunette to bed that night, fucked her from behind with one hand in her thick hair and her face buried in the mattress to keep her quiet, it was in no way, shape, or form because of Rey. No fucking way. 


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up for mentioning drinks being spiked, Kylo and Hux and the members of the First Orders being asshats, and some possessive/obsessive bullshit from Kylo. Per the norm. Also, language?? I dunno if that's a tag but just on the offhand chance you don't like cursing, I tend to like making my characters curse.  
> <3
> 
> EDIT:  
> Okay! Quick heads up because I'm worried that I didn't write this so that it's easy to follow:  
> Phi Omega = First Order (colloquial name), and the Knights of Ren are the Secret Society of the University. A person can be a member of the Knights of Ren without having to be a member of Phi Omega, and vice versa. I'll try and make it more clear as I go through and edit a bit, and in the coming chapters; it's definitely one of those things that I know, but because I know it I'm not articulating it clearly enough. Sorry!

Rey’s whole body ached the next morning, and cursed into her pillow at the thudding sensation, willing it to go away as she yanked her blanket up and over her head. Sure, she’d had too much to drink, but was it really fair that her first college party result in a massive hangover? No way. She was going to have so many other opportunities for the headaches and nausea to strike, it didn’t have to be after last night.

Her body said otherwise, and she squeezed her eyes all the tighter against the light coming in from the window. Ugh. Rude. In the other room she could hear her roommate getting around, enjoying the lazy Friday sunshine, pop music playing just quietly enough through the walls to let Rey know that she was being kind enough to keep it to a minimum out of respect for Rey’s hangover. For that she was incredibly grateful as she kicked off the covers of her twin bed and stood to stretch. Last night had been a ridiculous waste of time and a good buzz; the drinks had been free at the Phi Omega house, yes, or else she wouldn’t have bothered, but the man who put a hand on her ass _certainly_ had not been what she was looking for. Why was it that they assumed if you were in possession of a vagina and pair of tits, it meant you were obviously down to fuck?

The irritation was only making her head hurt all the more, and with a grunt she pulled a towel from the top drawer of her dresser, a pair of clean clothes to change into, and her small plastic bag of shampoo and conditioner. She had a job working just off campus, but it wouldn’t start for some time so she had to make do with what she had left. If she was lucky, maybe someone would’ve forgotten their shit in the communal showers the whole floor shared, but she wasn’t banking on it. Luck so rarely seemed to get her anywhere.

True to what she’d been expecting, her roommate’s door was open, the music having changed to something lazy and upbeat, the guitar part simple to counterpoint the lyrics that, if Rey was focused on hearing, she was betting were equally simplistic. She snagged her room key from where they’d both hung their lanyards, and disappeared out the door before her roommate could pop her head out to say hello. It wouldn’t do to scare her off just yet, not on the first weekend. She had the whole semester to accidentally fuck up and isolate herself further.

‘ _You keep thinking like that and it’s guaranteed to happen._ ’

 

Washing the grit from her skin and the scent of nicotine and beer from her hair, she let her mind wander to the other man at the party, the one who’d stopped her with his hand on her wrist. They were both lucky she hadn’t broken it out of habit, and she might’ve if he hadn’t moved out of the way just in time to avoid being hurt. There were _boundaries_ , hadn’t he picked that up by seeing his buddy getting an earful of her irritation? And who in the hell did he think he was, anyway? Fucking frat boy idiots. If she ended up going again she’d tell him exactly where he could stick that mentality. By God, he’d treated her like she’d needed some sort of _knight_ , like she was incapable of taking care of herself when he’d very clearly seen just the opposite.

Her veins burned with that idea, and she forced herself to breathe deeply as she rinsed the remaining conditioner from her hair, the strands feeling a little more coarse than usual. She’d had to skimp out in order to make it last, no one having left anything extra for her to pilfer from much to her disappointment. Still, people were bound to get lazier as the year went on, and if she could snag some from different sources then there shouldn’t be too much of a backlash. She hoped.

As she breathed slowly she let the anger and frustration ebb away. She’d been looking to get into one of the fraternities or sororities on campus, looking for something that might help to pad her resume as well as give her a way in. Not that she didn’t enjoy living in her dorm, given that she’d only been there for two days, but if there was the chance to get a bigger room, and a place to stay over the summer rather than having to go all the way back to Jakku while school was out, then dammit all she was going to take it. First Order hadn’t been her first priority, of course not. She was pretty sure, the last time she checked, there were all of two women, and from what she’d seen last night it really wasn’t any surprise. All the other girls who’d been there had been more interested in sleeping with the guys who occupied the house, the ones who were wealthy and influential, and could get them into the best clubs in town.

She’d heard good things about Rho Epsilon Sigma, though from what she understood that was mostly a slew of military-headed individuals, whether they were enlisting to be part of the actual fighting force, or the brilliant minds that would make up the tactical and technical divisions of the military. That wasn’t really her calling, she didn’t think. Engineering didn’t transfer into tactics, and she was more keen to fix things than to create from scratch. Not that she was entirely against the creation of something new, but her fingers longed to tinker and to repair, not to sketch and create outlines.

No. If she was honest with herself, she was looking at joining up with Alpha Omega. There she could find people who were like minded to her, she was pretty sure. They only took the best, a solid 3.8 or higher, with an emphasis on engineering and hard sciences. If she could get in there, could figure out how to find a spot in the house, then she’d be happy. At least, she was pretty sure.

They hadn’t been partying, their house the only dark one on the Greek Street that had otherwise been alive with the vibrant lights of returning undergrads and grad students alike. More was the pity; the outside of the building, a dark grey with white trim, hadn’t really left her feeling all that inspired.

Looks could be deceiving. She finished washing herself off and grabbed at her clothes from last night. She scrubbed at them underneath the running, hot water, doing what she could to at least give them a quick, free clean before turning off the water with an easy flick of her wrist. She dabbed herself off and pulling the clothes she’d hung over the stone wall to her so she could dress quickly, fabric sticking to the remaining water on her body making it a pain, but doable. Throwing her hair up into a messy knot on the top of her head, she’d let it dry when she got back, she headed out with her previous clothes wrapped up tight in the towel. By washing them in the shower and air drying them in her room she’d save a good three bucks, rather than having to use the washing machines and dryers provided by the school. At least until she got some decent paychecks under her belt to combat her book fees. What was left of her scholarships had been eaten away by her purchasing a laptop, even a second hand one, and groceries to last her the next couple months. A good thing she liked peanut butter, and ramen, because that was on the horizon for some time.

Her roommate was out in the small common space between their rooms when she got back, and now that she was in a far better mood Rey offered her a smile. Jessika Pava was warmth incarnate, this Rey could already tell given her smile and her outward demeanor towards her, and she eased up onto her long legs to scoot over so Rey could sit down.

“Have a good night last night?” she asked, watching as Rey hung her things up over her door without commenting on it.

Rey appreciated that. “It wasn’t bad. I didn’t expect a whole lot from a frat party, to be honest.”

Jess laughed, and Rey liked the way it brightened her eyes. “Which one did you go to?”

“Phi Omega. Thought about going to Alpha Omega for the night, but they, apparently, don’t party.” And what kind of frat was it that didn’t at least have an open house when everyone was trying to rush? Seriously. Jess’s grin told her that she was missing something as she moved to take the seat just next to her.

“They don’t ever hold welcome parties. At least, not in the past few years. A friend of mine, grad student who rushed Rho Epsilon Sigma, lament about how the Alpha Omega guys never came. Apparently they’re under the impression that you can lose too many brain cells in the process of enjoying your stay at Uni.” She rolled her eyes and Rey felt her chest tighten a little. Ah, well. That made sense.

“So you’ve been on campus for awhile then?” she guessed, leaning back against the couch and looking around the room. It’d been one of the last two-people rooms available, and though they didn’t have the private bathroom like the four-to-a-suite did, she was okay with that. Less she had to worry about.

“Second year taking classes, though Snap just started with his Master’s degree, so I’ve been around my fair share,” she said with a grin. “Enough to know the ins and outs well enough.”

“And Snap’s your boyfriend?” Rey guessed.

Jess shrugged. “Something like that. He’s a good friend, and an easy in to all of Rho's parties.”

Nothing wrong with that. Rey worried at her bottom lip, wondering just whether or not she should broach the subject of using him to get into Alpha Omega, when Jess nudged her with her elbow. “So. How was the First Order’s party? Still filled with sexist pigs?”

Rey let out a groan and a nod of her head. Yeah. She could say that again. “I kinda set myself up for that, didn’t I?”

Jess hid her snicker behind a hand. “Yeah. Look, let’s get some breakfast, and I’ll fill you in. I’m dying.”

 

\--

 

Kylo had kicked the girl out of bed with him in the middle of the night, or had she left of her own volition? He couldn’t remember, truthfully. The advil might’ve taken away the majority of the headache, but the majority of the previous evening was lost to the recesses of the whiskey bottle he’d taken up after Rey left.

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t forgotten everything. He was pretty sure he could still feel the press of her warm skin against his, had (not so accidentally) thought it last night when he’d been fucking . . . hell, he couldn’t even remember the woman’s name. But Rey, Rey he didn’t think he’d be able to forget. He could only assume she was a freshman, or an upperclassman looking for a new thrill who’d been too chicken shit to come to their parties in the past. There was something about the first idea that made him moan and press his face into the pillow, chasing the image that flooded the backs of his eyes when he closed them. His cock gave an appreciative twitch, filling with blood so rapidly Kylo swore he was becoming lightheaded, and out of habit his hand reached down to tug at the base. He could imagine her there, lying on his bed, her eyes wide and bright, her fingers threaded through his hair. He’d have to be gentle with her, tiny thing that she was, and he could all but see her thin lips widened in surprise at the sensation of him pushing into her, how tight she’d be around him. He gripped himself all the harder, trying to mirror the false, would be sensations of the situation, and his wrist ached as he started to speed up. His jaw clenched as he felt himself getting closer--almost there--almost.

A loud pounding on his door made his headache and his fist stop dead. What the fuck?

“Ren, get your ass up. I’m not cleaning this whole fucking place by myself,” Hux snarled on the other side of the door, punctuating the last of his words with one final crash of his fist against the doorframe. Kylo swallowed a scream of rage, so _fucking close_ to the edge of his orgasm that he could taste it, but all desire to actually finish having diminished significantly. God he could _kill_ Hux for that, but he just gnashed his teeth and got out of bed. Fine. He wanted help cleaning? He’d be in for a rude awakening.

 

In the end, really all Hux wanted was for Kylo to stand around and glower at the new recruits looking to get into the frat, inspiring them to clean faster and get the house in the same shape that it had been before the party. “You woke me up for this?” Kylo growled, though he accepted the bottle of chilled water from the ginger man when it was offered to him.

Hux smirked. “Yes. The stories of your fits of rage are fast becoming legend; I can scream till I’m purple in the face but verbal threats only get you so far. You understand.”

Kylo grumbled as he snapped the top off of the water and chugged a good half of it without another word. He had a point, much as he hated to say it, though a more effective threat would’ve been to say that Hux would’ve woken him up if they didn’t clean up fast enough.

This was his last year, dammit. He was entitled to a few extra hours spent in bed as far as he was concerned.

“Good turnout last night,” Hux continued on conversationally. “See anything particularly impressive or interesting on your end? Or were you too busy acting like a gargoyle to actually enjoy yourself?”

“As opposed to spiking the drinks of the freshmen?” Kylo asked, shooting him a look that told Hux he had no damn room to judge. Still, Rey’s face came to mind. “Actually, yeah. Brunette girl, about up to here on me,” he held his hand up to his collar. Give or take. “Goes by the name of Rey. Did you happen to catch anything about her?” If not he’d try and catch up with Phasma, see what she could tell him. She tended to remember things better than the pair of them, anyway. Hux’s face scrunched with thought, fingers drumming against his water bottle as he thought it over. Kylo was pretty sure he wouldn’t, given by how deep the frown was etched into his brow, but he tried to prompt him anyway. “Had a certain loud run in with Kwill when he couldn’t keep his hands to himself?” The thought of which now made Kylo’s blood boil. Fellow Knight of Ren or not, that wasn’t going to stand any time soon.

That got his attention, though, and his eyes snapped up to meet Kylo’s from where they’d been staring off into the void previously. “Ah, yes, I think I know who you’re talking about. Wore khaki capris, or something, right? Great ass, not all that impressive in the chest?”

Kylo bit the inside of his cheek. The bastard deserved a slug in the gut for that, but to do so would mean he was far too invested. Besides, he was getting a little ahead of himself, wanting to protect her from the get go. He’d hardly known her for more than ten minutes, fifteen at most, and from what he had seen he was fairly sure she could kick anyone else’s ass herself.

He forced himself to choke on a snort. “Yes. Her.”

“Well, she transferred in, living in the dorms from what I can understand. She came in with another girl, a freshman who said they were neighbors. Didn’t catch her major, or where she was from. Possibly Phi Omega material, if she could handle herself against Kwill. You thinking of getting her to rush?” He looked interested in the thought. They had all of two female members, and accepting another Kylo knew would get some of the raging gender equalist pissababies off their backs. They’d just yet to find anyone who could hack it with the rest of them.

So, maybe. He kept his grin inward at the thought of sharing a room with her; if they were together it didn’t make any sense for her to have a separate room, and really he didn’t want to think about anyone else getting to her. Fuck, what was _wrong_ with him? “Like you said, if she stood up against him, I’d say she’s got a fair chance. She didn’t strike me as the sort to just come to a party without there being a reason to it.”

Hux arched a brow, as though to ask just what it was that gave him this feeling, when Kylo turned away to bark at the other fresh recruits to hurry up. Snoke was coming by later to see just how it was they were getting on with the newest expansions on the house (privately sanctioned by him, of course), and he’d had a note the first day back saying that there would be a Knights meeting later that evening, and with errands of his own to run he didn’t have the time to sit there and babysit them the rest of the day.

“Were we ever this lazy?” he muttered to Hux, changing the subject smoothly enough to get away with it. Hux’s puckered brow told him he knew just what he was up to, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it.

“I suppose so. It’s only gotten worse with time,” he snickered and Kylo was inclined to agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and being patient with me while it came to writing this second chapter! Between this, Opia, and everything else I'm working on I'll do my best to keep the updates as consistent as I can =]


	3. Three

Rey’s first day of work was that day, a couple hours after she and Jessika had finished eating their breakfast so that Rey’s headache had blessedly dulled to a low tremor at the back of her skull. Her uniform, a campus issued grey polo and pair of khaki capris, itched something fierce, and her hours might not have been all that great to begin with, but it was work. At the time she’d accepted the job it was the only thing open to someone without a car, so she’d take the chance when she had it, already having planned to pick up as many hours as the University would let her work. She wouldn’t be enrolled for all that long if she didn’t. She’d already gotten her books that morning, and they waited for her beneath the counter, calling to her now that things were slow even though she wasn’t allowed to read them. Her co-workers, experienced at the way things tended to turn out courtesy of a few years under their belts, told her not to worry, that the next day was going to be when they were busiest, giving her plenty of time to learn the ropes of the faulty computer system that apparently hadn’t been updated since the early 1990s. Hard to believe that any program still worked on DOS, but there they were. 

Still, it gave her plenty of time to think, drumming her fingers on the desk and watching the parents bring their freshmen students in to buy new clothes and pennants for their rooms, perusing the mug sections and the “MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS A CORUSCANT UNIVERSITY STUDENT” sweaters, specially marked down for Welcome Weekend. Her stomach tightened as she watched one girl in particular pick a pair of matching University sweaters for her and her mother, and she had to turn away to keep from staring so blatantly. Eager to find something else to focus on she filled her mind with the question of how it was she’d go about applying to get into Alpha Omega when she only had a year of Community under her belt. Apparently they only accepted the highest of the highest grades, with the best recommendations from past teachers. She could always try and rush in the Spring, too, but really she wanted to stake her claim right then, before anyone else got the chance to. Even if she’d be surrounded by men all the time, it was cheaper than getting an apartment on her own or with a friend, and close enough to campus that walking wouldn’t be an issue. She couldn’t afford to think of another idea, so on a blank piece of scrap receipt paper she made a list of her previous instructors, following it up by scribblign out the beginnings of an email before a dark shadow loomed over her desk. She looked up into the eyes of none other than Kylo Ren, the name supplied by Jess once Rey had rattled off his description in a fit of irritation at how he’d treated her. Now, she wasn’t sure she’d made enough of an effort to explain to Jess just how fucking  _ tall  _ he was. At least over half a foot taller than her, and his lips were pulled back into a wide grin. 

“Fancy seeing you here, Rey.” 

Shit, had she given him her name last night? Either way it was on her nametag, dammit all, and it was everything she could do not to cover it up. She forced herself to smile, remembering that she had a job to do, and looking down at the books he’d gotten from the downstairs bookstore. She recognized three of them as the same she’d picked out for her Political Science: Government Systems class and hoped to God that he had a different teacher, different time,  _ something _ so she wouldn’t have to see him every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

“Hi. Sorry about last night,” she said with a shrug, eager to start ringing him up so long as her computer system would cooperate. It, however, had other plans, plans that involved beeping angrily at her when she tried to hurry the process along so that she wondered whether or not she shouldn’t just write everything down, take his money, and send him on his way with a written receipt. It’d be faster. 

“Don’t be. I rather enjoyed watching Kwill get what was coming to him.” He was keeping his voice low, secretive, and Rey gritted her teeth to hear it. What the hell did he think he was playing at? She didn’t have to look up to know that he was leaning closer, trying to either intimidate her, or create some semblance of intimacy. If the latter, well, he had another thing coming. 

“That’s not a very nice way to speak about your friends,” she murmured, still refusing to turn to him. She looked back over to her screen instead and tapped a couple buttons, the lines on her brow deepening as it just beeped unhelpfully. She tried running the scanner over the second book, only having gotten through the first one before it’d decided to be an asshat, and they still had at least half a dozen to go. 

The machine let out a low beep of irritation, again, the screen freezing, and Rey had to bite back a shout of irritation, her toes curling in her worn down sneakers. Seriously? It figured. Her manager had only just gone on break, and the other cashiers were busy assisting other customers. They’d not set up all that many stations, not having anticipated it being busy, and every time Rey looked over to try and make eye contact, her fellow employees were busy. 

In front of her, Kylo let out a low laugh. She she looked up at him, teeth gritted together. He seriously thought this was funny? His posture was relaxed, the leather jacket he’d chosen accenting his broad shoulders and tall frame as it hit just below the waist of his dark wash denim jeans, and the way he leaned against the counter like he had all the time in the world made her want to strangle him with his jacket. Like he didn’t have anything else better to do. 

“I’m sure one of the other cashiers might be able to help you better,” Rey said quickly. “My manager’s on break, he’s not going to be back for another half an hour.” 

Kylo arched a brow, looking down at his watch, and shrugged. “Not a problem, I don’t mind talking while we wait.” 

How nice of him to say that. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, feeling her cheeks grow warm as she worked to switch conversations, then, before he could start up talking about how she’d shoved against him last night. “So, you’re taking PSC 211, too? Who’s your professor?” 

_ Please not Ken Statura. Please.  _

“Statura, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 11 to 12:50.” She watched as his eyes lit up with the realization what it must’ve meant if she was asking. “You?” 

_ Shit _ . “The same.” She forced herself to smile. She’d been really looking forward to that class, too. Statura had had excellent reviews online, saying that he was a fair teacher but definitely an eye opening one, and that he presented the same data on the tests as what they covered in class, so as long as she didn’t miss any lectures there shouldn’t be a problem. 

Now that Kylo Ren was going to be in the same class as her she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to handle seeing him three days a week for almost two hours. She supposed she could always take a seat at the very front of the classroom to keep him from sitting next to her, hopefully, but the way he was staring at her wasn’t making her all that confident the plan might work. God, what was his problem? When Jessika had told Rey his name, and his credentials (supposed member of the secret society the Knights of Ren, Head of Phi Omega), her roommate had sounded less than impressed, and Rey couldn’t blame her. Their fraternity was pretty familiar with using drugs and liquor to loosen up the girls that came to party, to use heavy-handed threats and coercion to get their misgivings overlooked, and honestly it just wasn’t a safe place to go and party.

“Well it’ll be nice to have at least one competent person in that class. I’m guessing it’ll be full of freshmen.” Kylo said with a shrug that was meant to look offhand, but she was struck by just how pretentious it made him seem. 

“You’re assuming I’m not one of those freshmen,” she said, arching a brow. He didn’t know the first thing about her, and it wasn’t that she was but still. Hell of a big leap for him to make there. 

His smile told her that he seemed to know otherwise, though, and it made her cheeks heat up. Had he looked her up the same way that she was going to once she got home and had access to Facebook? She’d have been amazed that he’d found her so easily, but really how many other people on this campus named Rey? 

“You’re too mature to be a freshman. You’ve already got a job.” He was teasing her now, probing to make sure that he was right, and she felt her cheeks go red in spite of herself. 

“Wow, because that’s not making a huge assumption at all,” she said, unable to stop herself from laughing. Before he could say anything else she caught sight of her manager, and flagged him down with perhaps too much desperation on her face. A good thing it was her first day, or else it might’ve looked as though she was trying to get rid of her customer which, to the man running the whole thing, wasn’t exactly a great idea. He lumbered over, looking at her computer screen as she ran on with her mediocre diagnostic of what had gone wrong with it, and with a few taps on the keyboard and a kick to the tower, it jolted back to life. Oh, thank God. 

Kylo’s lips had turned downwards in a scowl as Rey hurried to finish checking him out, trying not to stare as he passed her a black credit card with the name Kylo Ren etched on the front and scribbled on the very back. She asked to see his ID, citing policy, and he didn’t argue with her though it was clear he’d been there longer than she had. As her manager had walked away, he wasn’t going to tell her otherwise. She eyed his date of birth, wondering how it was that he’d been in school for nearly six years now without having graduated. No way would a Post-Grad be taking such a simple Poli Sci class, especially not if he was going to complain about there being freshmen in it. She handed back his driver’s license and the credit card once the system had approved it, and smiled as she packed up his books for him and handed him the black plastic bag. 

“Have a great day.” 

“See you Monday.” He winked and she felt her chest clench at the sight, only breathing once he had left the building and her next customer came to take his place. She shot them an apologetic smile. “Sorry about the wait. Computer problems.” 

 

\--

 

Kylo had gotten a look at her last name while they’d been waiting at the counter, and he was already typing her name into the Facebook search bar as he walked away from the student book store. Of all the places for her to work he was fortuitous enough to have run into her there. And she was taking one of his classes, on top of it all, which only served to widen his grin as he waited for his phone to load the results. Sure enough, hers was the first one he found, and he eagerly tapped on her picture as he headed downstairs to where his car was parked. Not that the day wasn’t nice enough that he couldn’t walk, but he’d have enough of that once school started up and he trudged to class every day. He scrolled down her Wall, looking at the status updates about moving in, though they were few and far between before that. The picture she had was of her smiling and looking away from the camera, updated two years ago, and the only one before that had been a picture her acceptance letter to CU. She hadn’t made much of her profile available to the public, including the “Relationships” tab, which made him growl in frustration. It was far too soon, and too creepy, to Friend her on Facebook, though truthfully it would be best to do it before the official start of the school year. Did he just bite the bullet and do it, then? 

His finger hovered over the button as he slid into the warm leather seats of his car, his palms beginning to sweat with his indecision. She might decline it, which he had a feeling would sting further, though wouldn’t be entirely a surprise given that it looked like she had a handful of followers. Loner-type, then, or she hardly went on it. That made sense, he supposed, and his thumb came down to hit the Friend button anyway, a pop up assuring him that she’d get his friend request. Too late to take it back now. 

The house was clean by the time he got there, Snoke already waiting and speaking with Hux as he walked across the now spotless polished wooden floor, moving steadily in the direction of the newest addition to the house. It was perfectly large enough before, but they’d fought to add on an extra couple of rooms to the back of the house for study reasons. At least that was what their request had cited. Already last night it’d been used to host a slew of hands on, group activities, which was what Hux framed it as. He had a certain way with words that Kylo couldn’t help but envy, and while Kylo might’ve had a snappy comeback nine times out of ten, he rarely ever saw Hux without at least a couple of speeches up his sleeve, loving the sound of his own voice. He couldn’t fault him for it, either, because he was so damn good at it. At least his law degree would never go to waste. 

Snoke’s attention turned back towards the sound of Kylo’s boots on the ground, the President’s smile wry as he took him in. “Long night, Ren?” he asked, sounding bemused. “Where were you when all of this group activity went on?” 

“Spending a little one-on-one time with an anatomy partner, sir,” Kylo said smoothly, which made Hux snort. “Trying to get a little work in before school starts.” 

Snoke’s lips twisted and he looked between the two of them. “You two have quite the legacy on your shoulders. Before you two there were a handful of us to carry on the traditions of Phi Omega, now you two remain to train the new recruits.” Everyone else had either been kicked out, or quit. Kylo tried not to think about the pressure it placed on he and Hux. “I expect great things from you two. Only pick the best from this year’s new batch; anything less than that will not be tolerated. I will not babysit the pathetic excuse for fraternity brothers if you two botch this up, nor will you find yourself welcome in this city or campus again should any of your extracurricular activities find their way into the school papers once more.” 

Hux winced at the memory. Sophomore year had been rough. “Understood, sir. It won’t happen.” 

“I stuck my neck out for you two to add these rooms. Put them to good use outside of simply group activities,” Snoke growled as he turned on his heel to leave, waving Kylo to follow. Hux collected himself in the wake of their absence, and Kylo felt his stomach twist. 

“What’s this I hear about you wishing to add another female to the fraternity? After Phasma we had agreed to phase out the rest of the women who expressed interest,” Snoke growled. “They pose too much of a distraction and a possible problem.” 

“This one is different, President,” Kylo murmured quietly. “She’s strong, in both physical and spirit. She’s a sophomore transfer student, and I think she could offer something to the fraternity.” Provided they could assuage her to join, of course, and wouldn’t  _ that  _ be fun. “However, she’s in one of the classes I am going to be a TA for, so I need--.” 

“Permission to do as you please.” Snoke’s eyes narrowed. They’d stopped just before the door to the outside, the windows open to invite the warm, final days of summer air into the house, but it couldn’t have felt any more chilly with Snoke’s eyes on him in that way. “If you just want to get your dick wet pick a new girl. There are hundreds of them.” 

Kylo straightened his shoulders. “President, it’s not that--.” 

“But you  _ are  _ attracted to her.” 

Yes. There was no point denying it; Hux had told him of her, evidently, so why should he bother trying to hide it? “I’m attracted to what she could become. And if we can mold her to our expectations she could be good for press, show that we’ve changed. Offer up interviews about how progressive we are and what she’s doing to open up membership to other women or at least start her own individual sorority based on Phi Omega. Even if it never happens, we can say something went wrong in the process of garnering funding, but then the idea that we’re more than that fucker’s article said about us is made evident.” 

Wouldn’t Hux be proud of him, thinking on the spot like this? Snoke’s eyes narrowed further, his lips tightening as he surveyed Kylo in search of weakness of some sort, waiting to see just what it was that Kylo was hiding from him further, but when Kylo held his ground he backed off. 

“Very well. Bring her into the fold but exercise caution. If anything goes awry it’s going to be  _ you  _ that takes the fall for it. I don’t care who your parents are, or what their contributions have bought us.” 

Kylo gritted his teeth and his hands balled into fists. “I never asked for favoritism.” 

The look that Snoke shot him made his throat close up, choking him. “You got it, whether or not you asked for it. Don’t make me regret it.” 


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have an update! I'm so sorry that it took forever and a year to get this done with--I literally deleted the whole first draft of this and rewrote it . . . in a couple hours. So, yeah. I'm forever convinced this chapter is a hot mess and a half, but it's an update. Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate the support <3

He’d Friend Requested her. She’d figured he’d be looking at her last name on the tag after not getting  it at the party, but she hadn’t anticipated that he’d actually go ahead and look her up, let alone request to be her friend. Fuck. What the hell was she supposed to say to that? She’d only just gotten home from dinner, work having dragged on until the end of her shift. That had bled right into her stuffing her face with as much food as she could, snagging a few apples and extra cookies in the small purse she’d started carrying for just such a reason. She wasn’t an idiot; the more she could get from the caf, the less she’d have to buy. Jess had left a note that she’d be out for the evening but she’d be back later, and Rey had been looking forward to a comforting night of solitude before the insanity of upcoming classes. 

An impending Friend Request on her Facebook account was not Rey’s definition of relaxing. This was why she didn’t check the damn account except once in a great while, and the one day that she’d been inexplicably drawn to it--. 

She sucked on her bottom lip and wished for a beer. She should’ve stolen some from the frat houses she’d visited, had she been cognisant enough to think about it, and now she burned for something that’d claw its way down her throat and make her stupid enough to forget that Kylo Ren knew where she worked, and worse, now knew that she had a social media presence. Not to mention, he’d beaten her to the punch of looking him up! That was just rude. Had he asked her in person she could’ve claimed to be a hippie, or something, or that she was computer illiterate (given how the day had gone, her computer crashing half a dozen extra times? She could’ve gotten away with it), but no. He’d stalked her online instead and found her that way, so now she was excuseless. 

This sucked. 

For a brief moment she considered deleting it, acting as if she'd never gotten it. There was always some sort of technology problem, even with a site so massive, so it wouldn't be entirely unrealistic. It would, however, set him up to visit her at work, and ask. Possibly even to send another request. She wasn’t afraid of confrontation, not usually, but looking over Kylo’s Facebook pictures, his bio  ( _ Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. _ Really?) she wasn’t sure it was the safest option. Men had gone off the handle for less, and she really wasn't looking to get herself killed. 

But then what was she inviting if she accepted? There really wasn't anything he could glean about her from her own profile, hardly ever updated to begin with, so maybe appeasing him once would be enough? He'd realize how boring she was and lose interest. Quickly. Besides, he couldn't hound her if she said yes, that would be all there was to it. Trying not to wonder if this was going to be the idea that got her killed, she hit the blue Accept button and kept looking through his own profile, now that it had fully opened to her. He was a grad student, though his profile didn't mention a major, only that he'd been a part of Phi Omega for pretty much his whole college career. His profile was littered with picture of their parties, the charities they'd donated their time to, pictures of him at different martial arts competitions. Great, THAT made her feel safe. The latter seemed to be from when he was in high school, though, and it was only then she realized how far back she'd gone on his page. So much for casual indifference. 

Ugh, she was thinking too hard about this, and clicked through his most current photos. A few of them were clearly publicity shots and the quality was far better, more professional, than the ones taken of him shirtless and grinning on the beaches of Naboo for Spring Break. She’d never have guessed he was so damn, well,  _ cut _ . His frame was intimidating and broad to say the least, but he never exuded the aura of having a body to go with it. Her cheeks heated up when she found herself counting how many well defined abs she could see if one of his pictures, closing out of the window soon after. That was just irritating. Her attention turned, instead, to her schedule for the upcoming week. Three engineering classes that promised to be challenging enough but with good professors, and her one side-class. Though she’d taken the majority of her gen eds while at Community, Statura looked to be a promising professor, and the subject was interesting enough.They didn’t have classes on the supposed “dark side” of politics, so she’d jumped at the chance to round out the rest of her required classes and, hopefully, boost her GPA a little further. Given that it was at the 200 level it shouldn’t have been too difficult. 

Kylo Ren being in the class would simply be a side irritant, but nothing that distracted her too far from what she was supposed to do. Something told her that the last thing she’d want to do would be to partner up with him for anything, sure that she’d be left pulling both of their weights in order to even complete the work given. Picking up the course book, she flipped it open and flopped onto her bed to start reading it. At least it pulled her attention off of the impending shitshow that was her first class on Monday. She made it a quarter of the way in before passing out, cheek pressed to the page, restless mind quieted only by the thought of showing Ren up in class. 

 

Rey got to class half an hour early, painfully early, but it secured her spot at the lefthand side of the front row. Jess had snickered at her when she’d left so early, assuring Rey that she wasn’t going to have to contend with many for a front row spot (“Most people aren’t that dedicated!”) but it had still weighed heavily on her mind that she wanted to get there early enough to settle herself in. Half of her anxiety was simply not knowing what the whole day had in store for her, and simply finding her seat and relaxing before class started would help to diminish a great deal of that. Besides, with no one else in the class at that time she could decompress, claim the nearest power outlet for her laptop (the battery life next to nothing) and dick around on the Internet until her classmates filed in. By the time she’d checked her email for the third time that morning, reassuring herself that no one had cancelled class, and gone over her schedule half a dozen more to make sure that she was, indeed, in the right class, a few other students had started to file in. 

She was caught between wanting to tell the man who’d come to sit next to her that the seat was being saved (but really how childish did that sound?) and wanting him to take it so Kylo  _ couldn’t  _ sit next to her, that she’d missed that he’d introduced himself. His charming smile had began to waver, giving way to doubt and nerves, by the time it registered that he’d said hello. 

Her cheeks reddened. “Sorry, hi. What did you say?” 

‘Great job, Rey. Way to establish yourself as a basket case.’

But his smile was reassuring. “Said hi, and asked if you’d mind if I plugged my phone in just below your computer?” 

“Oh, yeah--sure thing.” She extended a hand to take the charger from him, his phone already attached, and slid the device up against the wall after she’d pressed it into the outlet. “Are you a poli sci major?” 

“Undeclared,” he admitted. “But this’ll be my third class, so maybe. You?”

“Engineering. Just looking to finish up my gen eds.” 

He extended a hand. “Finn.” 

“Rey.” She shook his, smiling. His grip was firm, and warm as the smile that split his lips. He wasn’t half bad to look at, broad shouldered and dark skinned, with the kindest eyes she’d seen in a long time and an accent that said he was from the city. His fingers were only slightly calloused, not hard enough to guess that he’d done a whole lot of work with them but enough to pass the time, she was guessing. “Are you a sophomore, then?” 

“Yeah. Last year before I have to make  _ the decision _ .” He grimaced, his hand returning to tap an anxious beat out on the desktop. “Not looking forward to it. You?” 

“Transfer, so first year at CI, second in college.” 

“Community first?” 

She nodded. Was she that easy to read?

“Smart. I wish I’d done that, but my dad went here . . . forever ago, so it really wasn’t a choice to go anywhere else.” He didn’t look pleased about it, teeth worrying at his bottom lip. An urge gripped her to reach a hand out and take his once again but the door opened and Kylo Ren stepped in, followed closely by a man in a button down and dress slacks. Kylo looked well dressed, too, far more professional than the last two times she’d seen him, and when he didn’t take a seat with the rest of them her heart skipped. What the hell was happening? 

His gaze zeroed in immediately on hers as he moved to set up the computer not ten feet in front of her, gaze skirting from typing on the computer, to moving back to her. She could all but feel Finn going stiff at her side, and wondered whether she wasn’t the only one picking up on the heat in his every glance. What the hell was his deal? 

Ken Statura cleared his throat to call the attention of the class up onto himself, and smiled as it went silent. In the few minutes that Rey had been distracted, he’d written his name, the class number and subject up on the board, and per the norm for the first day, a couple people gathered their things and bowed out after finding themselves in the wrong lecture. 

“Right, well now that that’s out of the way. Obviously, you’re all here for PSC 211?” Statura asked with a smile, a murmur of assent going up among the students. “Good! I’m Ken Statura, and this year I’ve got a graduate student who’ll be co-teaching this class with me for the first time, Kylo Ren.” 

Rey’s stomach plummeted, and given Finn’s face, he was feeling the exact same way. Some small part of her wanted to know why, but with Kylo’s attention fixing on the both of them she didn’t dare lean over and ask. Son a bitch knew, when she’d confirmed what class period she had, that he’d be teaching her, and he hadn’t so much as said a thing. 

No, he’d offered her up a Friend Request instead. She really shouldn’t have accepted it. 

 

\--

 

The surprise on Rey’s face had made the whole day worth it, nevermind that she was sitting next to one of their newest recruits, a legacy they’d felt obligated to take in despite Finn hardly offering up any of the qualifications they tended to look for in Phi Omega members. But he was one of Phasma’s, and her opinion was one that Kylo did his best to trust, no matter what. She had a knack for finding the perfect peons to follow, and though Finn wasn’t living up to that same expectation, something in Kylo was fairly certain he would. It might just take a little more time, was all. 

Besides, if Rey friended the imbecile, there was a better chance that she would be invited to more of the parties, and he’d be given an opportunity to see her more often without directly inviting her and looking too interested. Which, he had to face it, he was. He wouldn’t be spending so much time trying to justify getting her back to the Phi Omega house and into his bedroom if she didn’t have him utterly intrigued. 

Statura took to going over the syllabus, and for that Kylo was grateful. Not that he had read the thing, because there were far more important things to do than to pay attention to the same rules on every damn syllabus, but it also gave him a chance to watch her for reactions. She was pointedly keeping her attention away from his, intentionally staring at her paper, or Statura, to avoid the fact that he’d taken a seat just opposite her, right in her line of sight. As if it wasn’t perfect enough that she was part of his class, she’d chosen a seat up at the very front. Something told him she wouldn’t be keen on picking another, either. She’d stick it out with this one because she’d want to prove she wasn’t a coward. He appreciated that; it made everything else so much easier when it came to getting her attention. 

The class split up to read and work on a packet that Statura handed out, as Kylo walked around to try and help where he could. Rey had already gotten to filling it out, not even bothering to open her book, and Kylo frowned as he watched her furiously scribble answers in the lines. He made his way in front of her and crouched down to her level, noticing that her eyes flickered up to his before, resolutely, staring at the paper. 

“Either you’re the fastest reader in the world, or you’re not keen on doing paper work,” he murmured, voice soft. 

“I read this section of the book last night before I went to bed,” she muttered, still not looking up at him. It made him grin. 

“That eager to learn?”

“I needed a distraction.” 

From what? He was dying to know, truthfully. He’d only ever read ahead in one of his books for class once, and even then he’d been moderately disgusted in himself for having gone above and beyond in such a way. To know that she’d done that simply because she needed her attention to be drawn elsewhere? Well it was intriguing to say the least. 

“And the intricacies of Plagueis’ policies worked to distract you?” He asked, head tipping to the side. The opening chapter, which he’d skimmed after having purchased it, had been filled with fascinating bits of the man’s homelife, his rather occult beliefs that still held true in some parts of the world, and that she’d paid enough attention to the reading to recall it at will pleasantly surprised Kylo. She paused, and stared up at him with bright eyes. Her lips were pursed, and he wanted nothing more than to press forward and kiss that delicious look off her face, to feel her yield against him. 

She was his student, and he her teacher (of sorts), so of course, that wasn’t an option, even if that thought in itself turned him on all the more. There was so much more he could show her than just the opposite side of the political spectrum if she’d give herself to him willingly. 

“They sure as hell don’t entice me to turn to his way of thinking,” she said simply, her eyes narrowing, as though she was trying to read  _ him  _ instead. Had he been the blushing sort, he was sure his cheeks would’ve burned. Instead he maintained his cool head, watching as she turned her attention to her work. 

He had to shift himself, grateful that her gaze was focused on anything but him so that when he stood up she wasn’t face to face with the hard on struggling against the seams of his black jeans. He had to suppress a shudder at the mental image that thought provided, and instead looked over at Finn’s work. He was ahead of the rest of the class, but his body had tensed up with Kylo’s proximity. If anything, it led Kylo to stand there a few moments longer, to see whether or not the man would look up at him in question, or if he’d keep his head down. Non-confrontational man that he was, Finn chose the latter, and Kylo smirked. 

No way could Rey ever consider choosing Finn when she could have Kylo. Right? Their chatter had been nothing but that, just talk without any intention of going anywhere. So when they walked out together, Rey chatting animatedly as Finn listened with a rapt expression, he kept that in mind. No way would she ever choose Finn over him. Kylo could offer her the world, and Finn? Certainly they got along, but she could get along with Kylo too if she gave him a chance. 

( _ He was never one to back down from a challenge, after all, even if it remained unspoken. _ )


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Finally updated!   
> Heads up for possessive!Kylo ahoy. He's gotta be an asshole before he can get any better, so I do apologize ahead of time. If possessive behavior is a trigger for you I'd skip the end of the chapter (as that's where it gets worse). Other than that, hope you enjoy!   
> Also, apologies that Rey's segment is so short--I promise her half of the next chapter will be longer.   
> Thanks for reading!

Two weeks and he’d yet to stop paying so much attention to her. Two. Freaking Weeks. And Kylo still looked at her like he was going to clear all of Statura’s things from his desk and fuck her right there and then in the middle of the class. She’d have hoped he’d have some sort of chill, or that she’d be able to talk to the professor on a one on one basis, but apparently being head of the department meant he was ridiculously busy, so any and all meetings she attempted to conduct meant being face to face with Kylo. Of course. Why would things have been easy? She’d learned from the first meeting, of having found Ren waiting for her in Statura’s office, that trying to schedule some time with her professor was going to be a dead end. How in the hell was she supposed to work or focus when Ren kept  _ looking  _ at her like that? 

Finn was a gift, at least. He’d learned quickly enough how to pick up on her signals that she was getting uncomfortable, and had a knack for distracting Kylo enough to ask him a question. As a GA, he’d have no choice but to answer it, and it allowed Rey a chance to make a run for the bathroom, or get a drink of water. By the time she’d get back he’d have moved on without much extra chance to single her out once again. They were getting pretty damn good at the whole thing, really. Though she could read the hard set of his shoulders every time he’d try and get Kylo’s attention off of her, could tell he wasn’t wholly comfortable with the man, he’d yet to fall through whenever Rey got irritated with their GA’s constant, watchful eye, and whatever Finn’s issues with Ren were, he never told Rey about them. Granted, she never asked. 

 

“Hey, Rey?” Thursday’s class was just ending, and Finn looked over at her from where he was packing up his things. “Do you happen to have any plans this Saturday?” 

She paused, books midway to her backpack, considering the question. Jess was going to be out, busy with Snap and a few of her other friends, and while Rye had been invited to join she’d really just thought about a slow, quiet night in. There were a few piece of homework she wanted to get a head start on, and she was pretty sure that Saturday was going to consist mostly of stalking the Alpha Omega head. He was supposed to be notorious for visiting the local coffeeshop and she’d wanted to corner him to ask him a couple things about joining up. Still, there was something about Finn’s behavior that was ever so slightly off. He kept fidgeting so badly that she noticed he was having a hard time throwing his things into his bag; he kept missing the opening, then getting frustrated with himself and making the situation all the worse. There was a nervous crease to his forehead, too, a puckering of his eyebrows that made her pause. 

“Dunno,” she finally said with a shrug. “What’d you have in mind?” 

She watched his adam’s apple bob as he took a cautious, quick look around. Ren was off, talking with Statura, while the other members of the class had fled to claim the remnants of the warm autumn day that had teased through the open windows. 

“Walk with me?” Finn asked, which only increased Rey’s curiosity. She nodded. He’d never asked her to walk before, they’d always just sort of fell into step together, but with her things packed up she just waited on him to zip the bag up and over his hastily packed belongings before he skirted out of the room. She didn’t miss the way that Kylo Ren glowered at their backs as they did. 

Finn didn’t speak until they were out a few paces away, and even then, he sounded anxious at best. “So, there’s an event this Saturday at the Phi Omega house. We’re supposed to bring a date.” Here he paused to look at her. “Someone who’s new to the frat, and we’re supposed to sleep with them. They call it tradition--.” 

“Woah,” Rey held up a hand to stop him, or at the very least slow him down. There was no steamrollering over  _ that _ \--no way! “What do you mean--like, you’re supposed to bang them at the party? Seriously?” What the fuck kind of tradition was that? 

Finn didn’t look pleased, but he nodded regardless. “We’re supposed to,” he reiterated. 

Right. She worried at her bottom lip. “Look, Finn. I like you and all but--.” 

“I’m gay.” 

Oh. Well then. The rest of her words died on her tongue, mouth snapping shut tightly. That put a whole new spin on the situation, didn’t it? She wanted to stop walking, but his hasty steps told her that he’d rather not, so she elongated her own strides. 

Finally, once they’d made it outside, she said quietly: “The stipulation was that you have to bring a  _ girl _ , wasn’t it?” 

He didn’t have to nod for her to know that she was right, the averted gaze did more than enough. She reached a hand to squeeze his elbow, smiling when he finally looked up at her. There was the slightest question in his eyes, a wonder whether or not this was going to go down the road he thought it would. She simply stared at him. “Why rush at all, then?” 

“Legacy. Apparently it’s about all I’ve got.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek, and his words reeked of bitterness and irritation at the reminder. “I just--I can’t really quit. I’ve gotta be part of it. Would you mind . . . helping me fake it?” 

Her mind filled with images of a movie, one she’d had to wait till Plutt was asleep to watch, not having wanted her foster father to realize that she was actually doing something to  _ enjoy  _ herself. That wouldn’t stand, never did. She’d had to press her mouth to her blanket to keep from laughing at the ridiculous misconstrued truth that had stretched through the film, had gotten a little bleary eyed at the ending, and the memory of it brought a wide grin to her face. “You want to Easy A this shit?” 

Finn’s shoulders seemed to inflate ever so slightly with the reference, relief shining on his face. It made her smile widen even further until her cheeks ached. It was a good look on him. 

“I was hoping you’d say something like that.” He leaned over to pull her into his arms, his full lips pressing up to the edge of her temple. She melted in his hold, feeling something warm spread through her chest and to the tips of her fingers and toes. “Just promise that you won’t sew big red ‘A’s onto everything you own.” 

He was teasing, and she dug her fingers into his side to make him gasp with a laugh. “Hey. You know I’d pull that off  _ fantastically _ . Don’t even start with me. But I do need you to tell me how to dress for this sort of thing.” She hated to admit. “I stuck out too much last time, I think.” 

 

\--

 

The week had not been progressing as Kylo would’ve liked, nor had the few previous. Whereas he’d anticipated at least making some sort of progress with Rey, if anything he swore he was going backwards. Which, frankly, wouldn’t stand. Finn . . . he didn’t even want to think about the newest possible recruit. Had it not been for the grant that allowing him to join up gave them, he never would’ve made the cut. He’d stone faced his way through the vast majority of their tests, but while he wasn’t necessarily shirking away from the less than savory objectives, he wasn’t exactly jumping the gun, either. He didn’t seem to enjoy himself at any of their events, as though it was all just an inconvenient part of his life, and it got beneath Ren’s skin the more he thought about it. 

Being a legacy meant accepting this as who you were, as part of your life. It wasn’t something you could simply deign to be a part of, or something that you pushed away really, especially not when you had nothing else to fall back on. He should’ve been damn thrilled that a frat as prestigious was even  _ looking  _ at him, let alone letting him take part in their activities. 

This next test, at least, was their final. Who didn't perk up, after all, when they got to have sex? 

“If I don’t see him crack a smile,” Phasma mused from her place on the couch, her mile-long legs stretched out on the leather, head reclining. “Either he doesn’t have emotions or his date has no idea what they’re doing.” Her shock of blond hair splayed backwards. Her sharp eyes were closed and Kylo watched as she placed the blunt back up to her lips and inhaled slowly, before releasing the thick smoke into the air. 

From his place on the wall Hux snorted. “Or  _ he  _ doesn’t. My bet is he’s a scrawny little virgin who’s never so much as looked at a woman who wasn’t covered from head to foot.” 

“Could just be all the above,” Kylo smirked, and he lifted his whiskey and coke up to his lips, the drink heavily mixed with the former in mind. The thick, wafting smoke of Phasma’s caught his nose from where he stood just behind the couch, and he felt his shoulders relaxing as though conditioned to recognize the smell as something precluding a good time. He was anticipating tonight being a shit show to say the least, and had no reason to think otherwise. It was, admittedly, more interesting than it ought to be to see what type of girl each of the recruits brought with them, and he and Hux tended to take bets beforehand on who zeroed in on an easy target, or who went for a 10, when they themselves, were a 4 or lower. 

Finn walking in with Rey at his side, two hours later, was not at all what Kylo had had in mind.  Hux actually cackled from his place nearest the kitchen, having been previously in conversation with a man named Lyse that was looking to join up. The ginger’s eyes sprang up at the new development, though, and soon after he turned to stare over at Kylo, whose blood had begun to boil at the sight. Oh no. Hell no. If anyone was going to sleep with her it would be him. No other option. His shoulders grew tense and his jaw slid into place with a tight crack as he watched the pair mill around the room. Rey’s hand tugged free from Finn’s, just enough to give Kylo hope, when Hux slapped a hand on his back. 

The taller man’s face about matched his hair, his eyes bright with liquor and mirth. Just about anything that made Kylo unhappy, Hux decided he loved. “So. Outplayed by a pledge.” He fought back a laugh with every word. “Maybe, if you ask nicely, he’ll share.” 

Kylo would have throttled him if Hux wasn't making such scene, his long fingers clawing into Kylo’s shoulder as the dark haired man stayed silent and still. 

Hux just laughed again. “Oh, c’mon. Even some small part of you must seen how ironic this is--.” 

Kylo shoved him off, making a bee-line for the keg instead. He needed more--more of  _ everything _ \--to deal with this shit. It was in Hux’s best interest that he didn’t follow. The beer was flat, and near warm enough to make Kylo gag at any other point in time, but he choked back two cups before throwing the soloc up in teh garbage. Hands empty and longing to crack something (preferably Finn’s skull) he instead grabbed at an abandoned bottle of Jack Daniels, removed the top with a deft, practiced flick, and gargled the whiskey to rid his mouth of the bitter tast eof the swill and regret. 

Why hadn’t he taken preemptive measures when he’d seen how close they were getting in class? Why hadn’t he bothered to corner the pledge and lay his claim to the brunette who was now smiling and talking animatedly to Finn? The taste of bile rose in his throat once more as, oblivious to his staring, they chatted and stepped around the room as though unaware of him at all. Her long legs were encased in a pair of dark leggings that made them look a million miles long, and the deep red top she had on made his mouth water to rip it from her and leave sprawling trails of bite marks and bruises down the length of her torso. She’d be the death of him if she kept this up, and though he had yet to put his finger on just  _ why  _ she caused his brain to short circuit the way she did, he wasn’t exactly in the proper mindset to question it. 

At least once he’d gotten away with Hux no one else dared to come and speak with him. He caught Phasma’s gaze from across the room, where she had a scrap of a girl of her own twisted around her body, and at least Phas looked somewhat sympathetic towards him. Not that she was really in a position to do something about it. That would be Kylo’s decision. 

Only after the first few pledges had begun to take their guests to the appropriately deserted rooms, and Rey stepped away for a moment, did Kylo move in. Finn jumped about a foot in the air as Kylo’s hand gripped his shoulder, his brown eyes widening as the older man towered over him. Kylo would be lying to say he wasn’t pleased to see the flicker of fear and apprehension sliding over Finn’s features. Good. When it disappeared behind a curious stare, Kylo’s shoulders tightened.    
“Kylo?”   
“Finn,” Kylo all but spat. The crease of confusion deepened on Finn’s face. “Pick a new girl.”    
A pause. “What?” Finn looked halfway perplexed and furious. It wasn’t a good look, the creases of his lips tight as his hands fisted, then relaxed, at his side.    
“Pick. A new. Girl.” Kylo’s grip tightened on Finn’s shoulder, and the shorter man winced. “Rey’s mine. I outrank you.”    
The horror of what Kylo was insinuating was slow to dawn on Finn’s face, yet was delicious as it did. His eyes searched Kylo’s, waiting for the whole thing to be a joke. But Kylo wasn’t laughing, and he wasn’t letting up on his grip, either.    
“You can’t own a person,” Finn finally growled. “Rey of all people. You want a shot with her? I wouldn’t lead with that.”    
The urge to deck the underclassman rose swiftly within Kylo’s chest, but he quelled it. It’d only prove what it was Finn was saying, and honestly it wouldn’t win any points with her but  _ oh _ , he was dying to. He let his features cool instead. “Advice taken. Now, either you choose a new target for the night, or you leave my sight and don’t bother coming back for your shit.”    
Finn ripped his shoulder away from Kylo’s grip, and Kylo let his hand fall. “You’re gonna kick me out because I might sleep with a girl you like?”    
“You’re the one who needs the scholarship. Don’t you?” Kylo’s voice barely rose above the music, but his message was clear enough. The color drained from Finn’s face, and his body went ramrod straight. His expression was little more than cold panic, and Kylo let his lips twist upwards. Good. Then he was understood. “Tell her when she gets back to head up to the third room on the right upstairs.” 

“You’re not going to hurt her,” Finn snarled as he took a step closer, his fear melting into something far more fierce. Had Kylo been easy to intimidate he might’ve even taken a few steps back. As it was, Finn’s threat simply made him smirk. 

“You’re not going to do  _ anything  _ she doesn’t want you to do.” 

Kylo’s expression turned sardonic at best and his eyes rolled. “I’m not going to. But neither are you.” With that, Kylo stepped away, shoulder checking Finn on his way upstairs. 


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, le smut. Fair warning, though: Rey is moderately intoxicated when it happens, and though she calls the shots, I want that to be known ahead of time. 
> 
> That being said, hope you enjoy anyway!

What in the hell was an Alpha Omega doing at a First Order party? Not just any member, either, but the head of the damn organization. She’d made her excuses to Finn, needing to catch up with Luke Skywalker and speak with him. It was damn lucky she came to the party instead of wasting her day at some coffee shop. 

“Hi, excuse me? Mr. Skywalker?” She had to shout to be heard, the man having made a bee-line straight for the keg and open bottles of alcohol. His grey hair stood out amongst the crowds of young adults, and his narrow shoulders stiffened at the sound of his name. Rey bit her bottom lip, gnawing at the pink lipstick she’d borrowed from Jess, as the older man turned to stare at her. His eyes, light yet indiscernible in color, narrowed inquisitively. 

“Do I know you?” His voice was curious, non-accusatory as she’d expected, but Rey had to lean in to hear him. Her heart sped up as she shook her head, unable to keep herself from smiling regardless. 

“No, not personally. I’ve been e-mailing you thought. About any memberships for Alpha Omega?” Rey prompted him, hoping to see a flash of recognition pass over his gaze. What she did catch sight of, and it tightened her throat, was a look of deepest resignation. Irritation, even. Was she already bothering him? “I’m sorry to have been pestering you so much--.” 

“It’s Ms. Sand, isn’t it?” He waited for her to nod before his gaze hardened. She watched as his shoulders squared and he took a deep breath. “You’ll have to excuse my negligence. Life has a funny way of twisting and turning when you least expect it to. However, we’re not accepting applicants at this time.” His voice was stiff, impolite, and his expression thunderous when she laid a hand on his shoulder before he could turn away. 

“Wait. Why not?” 

“Because the chapter at this school is dead. We haven’t had an applicant in years, and the funding got cut.” There was nothing in his voice save a thinly veiled line of sorrow, mixed in with a heavy helping of frustration. “Now, as much as I admire your tenacity, there’s a bottle or two with my name on it. Have a good evening.” 

Her heart dropped into her stomach, where it bobbed and gasped for air. Her carefully crafted plans, of finding a place to stay during the summer, went to hell in a handbasket of her own invention. What a fool she’d been, to get her hopes up so high. It took until he’d disappeared from sight for her to really clinch that this was not, in fact, a joke. He wasn’t playing around, he was turning her down, point blank. Her jaw clicked with irritation, her eyes blinking quickly to keep herself from betraying too much emotion. 

Well, at least she hadn’t wasted her whole day. She tried to cling to this thought as she grabbed a nearby cup and, without a thought of safety or caution, downed it. It burned at the back of her throat while giving her an excuse for the tears pressing at the corners of her eyes. Setting the cup back down, she moved to grab a fresh cup from the keg, mixing a couple glugs of tequila in with it before she chugged it. Her gag reflex was activated at the taste, and it left her gasping, but damn did it clear her mind well. She needed to find Finn before she did something particularly stupid. Punching Luke Skywalker in the damn teeth sounded way too appealing. Fuming, but trying to pull it together, she pushed her way through the crowd, angling to find the man she’d come with. Liquor made her blood pump harder and her cheeks flush, but she managed a smile when she finally found Finn with a drink of his own in his hand. She didn’t even notice how tight his smile was when she moved close and wrapped her arm around him. 

“Hey,” she smiled, pressing her face into the crook of his neck, hoping to give it the illusion that they were close and ready to engage in something more. Really, she was looking for the contact, wanting some of the comfort that Finn had managed to give her. She was hardly cognizant enough to realize he’d stiffened in her arms. This was what she got for not having eaten a whole lot before they’d come. “You ready?” 

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “You go on ahead, actually. Upstairs, third room on the right. I’ll be--I’ve gotta. Sorry.” 

She waved his apology away, smiling. “You’ve got your man thing to do, I got it.” She winked, and traipsed upstairs. As she moved, she caught sight of one man--a ginger, with hair-cut short and grey eyes bright--watching her go. She shot him a smile, not sure what else to do, before hurrying up the last couple steps. What had his smirk meant? Did he know about her and Finn? She hoped so, hoped that this would help him. 

The room was empty when she arrived, though the ones on either side were busy with vigorous, loud activities that surrounded her and were still loud enough to be heard over the pounding music. The collar of her shirt felt a little tight around her throat. For half a moment she considered just removing it. It’d look a little more legit, after all, and she didn’t think she’d need to worry about it with Finn. 

She kept it on, though, busying herself with looking around the room instead. She’d clicked on a nearby lamp when she’d entered, but the room was still dark for the most part, the black walls highlighted only by the single red accent wall. Did Finn have a choice in color scheme? Or, she wondered as she stepped towards the full bed and running a hand over the black satin sheets, was this even his room? Were they situated in one of the other member’s rooms? She shivered, sitting on the bed and blinking slowly to try and make her world come into sharper focus. 

She felt like she’d been waiting for hours, having laid back on the bed to relax, when the door finally opened. 

“About time,” she griped, smiling. “They’d probably think you’d chickened out if you took--. What the hell are you doing here?” She’d sat up to see Kylo Ren in the now closed doorway, his body filling up the doorframe and his expression unreadable. Something dark spread throughout her gut, and she blinked rapidly. This was not how she thought the evening was going to go. 

He smiled and that dark something inside her clenched. “Finn’s a little busy at the moment, so I thought I’d come up here and entertain you. It’s rude to keep a lady waiting.” 

“Funny. Bet you do it all the time with your lady friends, coming way before they get close.” Her eyes narrowed as his expression flashed. This was a bad idea, a terrible situation: stuck in a closed room with Kylo Ren? Terrible. But she wasn’t moving. 

It was he who stepped closer, he who ran a hand up her arm and cupped the back of her head with one enormous palm. She tried not to shiver. She didn’t want him to see that. 

“I’d be happy to prove the converse true.” 

She was  _ not  _ pointedly keeping herself from focusing on how his pants bulged, or how . . . not small said bulge was. She was not thinking about the fact that she would only have to undo his belt, button, and zipper, and yank his pants down to put her mouth on his dick. She definitely wasn’t thinking about how amazing it would feel to put those gigantic hands of his to use palming her breasts while she rode his face. 

But she sure as shit was thinking about the heat between her legs, and how easy it would be for him to lay back and let her use him as her own, personal tension tamer. 

She looked him in the eye, her whole body warming under the intensity of his gaze. His black pupils swallowed the brown of his eyes, and she felt her tongue brushing against her bottom lip. “Finn’s not coming.” It wasn’t a question, and he didn’t note it with an answer. “We--If we do this? It doesn’t leave this room.” 

“Of course.” 

“We sure as hell are not dating.” 

“Understood.” 

“Oh, and Kylo?” 

His brows lifted with a silent question. 

She grinned and felt all the anger, the hurt, and the frustration melt from her bones. “I’m on top.” 

 

\--

 

His hair stood on end at her last demand, and it wasn’t a hardship in the slightest for him to let her grab hold of his shoulders and pull him down and onto the bed. The mattress gave way beneath his weight, Rey rolling him onto his back so that she could undo the buckle of his belt, and slide his pants from his thighs. Shit. This was happening. This was really, actually happening. He wanted to memorize every second of it, etch it into his brain like some sort of permanent tattoo that he could go back to and look at just in case he never got another chance at her. His hands found her hips, and she let him tug up the corners of her shirt. It joined his pants on the floor and he simply laid back and gaped for what felt like far too long. She’d gone without a bra, and  _ fuck _ he was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world. He inched his hands upwards, and she allowed him to palm her breasts, rolling her hard nipples against his hands, while she worked to shimmy out of her own pants. His cock pressed up nearly through his boxers, desperate to get to the heat between her legs as she finally managed to kick her jeans off and onto the ground. Her panties were black, lacy, and made his mouth water and his mind go numb. 

“You got a condom, right?” she asked, her eyes hooded and lips parted as he pinched her nipples hard enough to bring her to whine. 

“Yeah, of course.” That snapped him out of his reverie, and with haste--and a great reluctance to have to pull away from her--he shifted backwards so that he could reach the bedside table. From the top drawer he pulled out a condom, tearing the package before looking up to see her pulling off her panties. The scent of her arousal flooded his mind. He wanted to bury his face between her thighs and never come up for air, wanted to lick at her sweet folds and taste her until she screamed and latched her legs around him, suffocated him with her cunt and begged for more all in one fell swoop. 

She plucked the condom from his grip and, once he’d pulled down his own boxers, slid it on. His answering whimper was  _ pathetic _ , his back arching like some virgin who’d never so much as touched his own dick before, and she grinned to see it. Wordlessly, she positioned herself just atop him, and with a single swivel of her hips lowered herself onto his cock. 

There was a God, after all, and he was so,  _ so  _ good to Kylo. 

He bit back a yell of frustrated bliss when she paused, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as her face scrunched up. “What’s wrong?” he managed to ask, thumbs smoothing soft, small circles on her hips. 

“You’re--fucking thought I could take it all at once. Just gimme a second.” She was panting, and she sat herself backwards so that he  _ swore  _ he could see her stomach bulge as she slid onto his cock. His hands moved from her hips to ball themselves up in the sheets, ripping holes in the fabric instead of slamming her down onto him like he wanted to. He’d rather die, he decided, than scare her away, and so breathed heavily through his nose to try and calm down. 

When she was nearly there she sat up further to let gravity do its job, and the squeak that came from her lips as a result made his dick twitch. He swore under his breath, jaw clenched as her eyes locked onto his. Her cheeks, which had already been pink from the liquor, were a deeper color than before, and with her hands on his knees she rose up and sank back down in uneven movements. She didn’t have a discernable rhythm, but he found that his hips knew when to thrust up to meet hers anyway, that it was easier to read her body than it ever had been to try and read her expression. 

When she leaned a hand closer to rub against her clit, he batted it away with his own, his thumb furiously rubbing at her clit. She smacked his hand this time. 

“Not so hard,” she growled. 

Cowed, he immediately slowed down, watching her cautiously until the tension in her brow relaxed, and her ridiculously kissable lips parted in to release a bevy of moans. 

“You--should really think--about getting birth control,” he gasped as he felt her begin to tighten, the combination of the pressure on her clit, and his cock inside her, getting to lead her towards the edge. As much as he hated to admit it he wasn’t going to be able to last much longer, either. She was so fucking  _ tight _ it was obscene. 

She reached forward and cupped his jaw with one hand, eyes bright and teeth bared. “You should get a fucking vas--vasecto--get your damn tubes tied if you wanna fuck me without a condom,” she snarled, grinding her hips against his all the harder. 

He keened, both at the strength of her hand holding his jaw and from her movements. She was perfect, so fucking perfect, and he was gonna come--wanted to spill into  _ her  _ but knew that this was better than nothing at all. His thumb sped up ever so slightly, and he took his left pointer finger into his mouth. Rey had closed her eyes, lost in the rhythm and sensation of Kylo fucking up into her. When he reached the slicked digit around to press against the pucker of her asshole, playing with the tight ring of skin, she shouted and lost it. The tight warmth that engulfed his cock sent him spiraling after her, coming so hard that air felt impossible to get in the quantity his brain needed. Rey’s shout deafened his own, and for that he was eternally grateful. Hux would never let him live it down, and the last thing he wanted to remember when thinking back on this evening was the gleefully triumphant smirk of that sonovabitch. 

Coming down, Rey slid off of him and onto the side of the bed, her chest heaving, her eyes focused on the ceiling above. “Fuck. I haven’t done that in a long time,” she muttered. Whether she wanted Kylo to hear, or had planned on the music being loud enough to swallow it up, he couldn’t tell, but leaned over to kiss her all the same. She allowed it, and his gleeful heart swooped as he pulled her into his arms to take his time with the kiss. 

She’d practically fallen asleep by the time he pulled away, realizing that she was drifting off just seconds before she did. 


	7. Seven

She didn’t recognize the bed she woke up in, nor the arm wrapped around her. That there  _ was  _ a warm limb wrapped tightly around her hips was a surprise and a half, one that had her start awake with her heart beating wildly in her chest. Kylo stirred just beside her, and she couldn’t help but stare at him and wonder how in the  _ fuck  _ this had happened. Maybe First Order parties were just bad luck for her. 

Kylo pressed his mouth to the side of her face, kissing her cheek gently, before moving lower to run his full lips along the curve of her jaw. She shivered, pulling away to look at him. “What’re you doing?” 

He followed her movement, kissing her exposed neck and collar. She hated how good it felt. “Well, I thought that was pretty obvious,” he murmured, hiding his smile in the crook of her neck, and running his teeth over the soft point where it met her shoulders. She groaned before she could help it. Fucker. 

“Why?” 

“Because your skin is soft.” 

The snicker that came from her mouth actually made him pick his head up to look at her, his heavy brows creased as he stared. She tried to hide her laugh with her hand, but failed miserably. “I’m sorry.” No, she wasn’t. “But that’s the fucking creepiest, most serial killer thing you could possibly say. My skin is soft? You gonna make a suit out of it Buffalo Bill?” 

He rolled his eyes and continued his lips progression down her exposed shoulder, nuzzling her ever-so gently. That was . . . different. She watched him, curious what exactly he was going for, until it grew dull. Shifting so that one of her legs came to wrap around his hips, she rolled them over until she straddled his hips again. He was quickly hardening, only needing a couple pumps from her hand to get him hard enough that she could sit herself on him. She rolled her hips a couple times, hissing at how fucking  _ sore  _ her cunt was from the night before, but his hands stilled her hips as he took them. 

“Hey, calm down. I don’t have a condom on--.” 

“Ugh. Right.” She bit her bottom lip, her eyes closing slowly as she simply enjoyed the feel of him inside of her, how fully he fit within her cunt. She hated to say it but it was a damn better fit than she was used to, even with her favorite toys. His dick curved just right so that when she leaned backwards it grazed up against her g-spot how she liked. What was worse was now that she’d started, the last thing she wanted was to stop. 

Still. She forced herself to get up, hissing quietly as she did so, and watched as he hastened to grab a condom from the bedside table, eagerly opening and sliding it onto his already slick dick. He’d hardly gotten it back on when she reached forward and grabbed his arms to move them out of the way. It took little less than a swivel of her hips and he’d entered her once more. She groaned, head falling back, mouth open, and eyes shut with pleasure.  _ Right _ , that was how they’d done it last night. 

 

She was grateful that, given how early she’d woken up hardly anyone else was around in the house, giving her the ability to slip out without needing to do too much of a walk of shame. She swore she saw a tall redhead and an even taller blonde woman in the kitchen, but was too focused on disappearing as quietly out the door as she could to pay them all that much attention. Why she’d decided on a pair of high heels last night was beyond her, but dammit the cold pavement on her bare feet helped to ground her mind as she walked back to her dorm. 

So Luke had been getting her emails, he just hadn’t thought it appropriate to respond and let her know that her aspirations of joining Alpha Omega were never going to happen. Anger pulsed in her stomach at the thought. How many emails had she sent him, trying to reach out and figure out what in the hell she was going to do? She’d wanted to get involved, to find people like her, who’d give her a place of community or whatever bullshit it was that Greek Life was supposed to offer. 

Her mind fought through the irritation and panic that had begun to set in, working to come up with a new plan, another option that she’d be able to take to avoid leaving for the summer. There were half a dozen other places she could live, other sororities to join. She tried to think of those now, focus on the others that she’d only halfheartedly glanced over. No use dwelling on the “would have”s now. 

Except. Except she couldn’t just let it go like that. There had to be a reason that Luke hadn’t immediately emailed her back with the news, right? Wouldn’t it have been easier to simply email her right away, inform her that the fraternity no longer existed? It would’ve put a stop to the pestering messages at the least. He’d known who she was after her brief introduction, after all, so he had to have at least read them. Why didn’t he just respond to the first dozen or so, rather than continuously go through, or delete, them. 

Her jaw clenched at the thought. She’d put time into those damn emails, had worked hard to ensure that she wasn’t coming off as too clingy or obsessive, while still firmly asserting her interest in joining up. What kind of special asshole was he to just ignore them, pretend they never happened? 

And why was he, really, telling her that Alpha Omega was no longer a registered, recognized fraternity at the university? Cautiously sidestepping a spare shard of glass that happened upon the sidewalk, Rey considered emailing him once more--insisting to know the truth. He’d been an ass to her both by ignoring her, and blatantly shooing her away last night. The least he could do was offer up some sort of truth, a legitimate answer either why he didn’t want her, or else why the organization had been shut down at all. 

She wracked her brain, trying to remember if she’d even read about the organization no longer accepting members. There’d been nothing on the official website that the school had linked to, or the SpaceBook profile page for the University’s Greek Life. So, what the hell was Luke talking about? Without her realizing it, her feet had led her to just outside the AO house, where she stood staring for a few minutes. The grass looked decently cared for, green from the deluge of rain that’d left them all drenched on the way to Thursday’s class. It wasn’t overgrown, either, and certainly wasn’t littered with debris like most of the others. Hell, it even looked as though the shutters had a new coat of paint. 

Biting her bottom lip hard enough to pull herself from her thoughts, Rey made up her mind to ask around. Maybe some of Jess’ Resistance friends would know. 

 

She didn’t have to wait long to find out. Even before she could get to her dorm she heard Jess’ voice, and Finn’s along with it. Frowning, she pressed her key into the lock and twisted to find it opened without resistance. As expected, both Finn and Jess were close to the door, and the panic on Finn’s expression bled to relief as he noticed she didn’t seem to be any worse for wear. Jess was looking more bemused than anything. 

“Girl rule number one: never take your damn shoes off. What’re you thinking?” she teased, shaking her head as she moved to collect Rey’s shoes from her. As she did, Rey noticed the two other men on their small couch, both wearing similar orange jackets. Aside from the color being gaudy as all unholy hell, she recognized the Greek symbols on the sides. So, the Resistance had come to her rather than her having to go to them. She smiled and gave them a small wave before turning to Finn. 

“You’re fine?” He sounded surprised, and she tried not to wonder why. 

“Yeah--I’m so sorry about last night. How’d it end up going?” she asked, horror sinking into her gut at the realization that not only had their plan  _ not  _ gone as it was supposed to, but she hadn’t held up her end of the bargain. Fuck. She was a terrible human being. All that shit with Luke had gotten to her head, and Kylo had just  _ been there _ and she hadn’t pushed him away so that she could go and help out Finn--. 

Dammit, what was wrong with her? 

“Fine, all things considered.” He waved it away, as though it wasn’t important, but she frowned. 

“How do you mean? Did you have to find someone else? I should’ve been there, I can’t believe I didn’t come back, I’m so full of shit.” 

His gaze had slipped down to his feet, as though he’d only just realized he had them and found them invariably more interesting than this conversation. “Don’t worry about it,” he promised. “They didn’t force it on me. I mean--Kylo didn’t seek me out to complain about me not ‘participating,’ so I guess I’ll count that a victory.” 

No, he wouldn’t have. He’d been wrapped up in Rey all night long. She felt her cheeks beginning to heat up and quickly turned around. Well then, at least she’d been able to help him out after all. 

Eager to change the subject, Rey allowed her attention to be shifted back to the other men in her room, waiting for Jess to make the introductions to them. She didn’t, too engaged in conversation with the taller of the two, leaving the other man to stand and offer her up a knowing smile. He was rather good looking, handsome in a devil may care sort of way that had Rey smiling even before he began talking. Finn, to her side, seemed similarly enchanted. Rey couldn’t help but notice the flush that darkened his cheeks. Maybe she could help him out for real this time. 

The gorgeous man came to stop with his hand outstretched in front of Rey. “Jess never gave us your names--I’m Poe. Poe Dameron. Sorry for invading your room like this.” She took Poe’s proferred hand, feeling the worn callouses on the tips of his fingers brush against the soft skin of her wrist before circling around her hand. He must’ve worked with his hands, she could respect that. 

“I’m Rey,” she said, before tossing a smile back at her friend. “And he’s Finn.” Her look to him was pointed, trying to get him to shut his open hanging mouth, but he didn’t seem to get the memo until the Poe offered him a handshake as well. Rey swore she could hear his jaw  _ snap  _ with the force and speed of him shutting it. 

“Nice to meet you, Finn,” Poe said, biting his bottom lip with the top row of his teeth and giving Finn the quickest, hottest up-down Rey had ever seen. She barely contained her glee. Good! She had a feeling they’d be adorable if Finn could get away with the whole boyfriend thing at First Order. The thought that she could always talk to Kylo about it flitted in her mind before she could stop it, making her jolt. Oh no. What’d happened last night and this morning had been a fluke at best, and she really needed to get her hormones under control if this train of thought was going to be a regular occurrence. 

While Poe struck up a conversation with Finn, Rey’s attention was turned back to the other Resistance member sitting on her couch, deeply invested in a conversation with Jess. She managed to ferret out that he was the infamous Snap Wexley, glad to be able to put a face to the name, but rather than interrupting them simply excused herself to go hop in the shower. She might as well not have said anything, truthfully, for all the response she got, but she couldn’t have been angry. Finn looked equal parts as interested in Poe’s every word, and Rey couldn’t have been happier for him, hoping it worked out. 

Then again, when a man looked at her like that? Down to fuck was the very tip top of the iceberg. At least someone would help take Poe’s mind off of the bullshittery of the First Order. She could already tell that Poe would be more than up to the task. 

 

With the hot water on her back, Rey’s muscles began to relax, and it was only then that she realized how tense she’d become that morning. Sure, the sex with Kylo had been good (at least she was pretty sure of it, given that it’d been awhile since she’d really gotten laid), but it didn’t ease the anxiety that had flooded her body in the absence of a plan. She could already tell this newest pitfall in her grand schemes for her time at college was going to haunt her for the rest of the semester, at the very least, but resolved to put it out of her head for as long as she could. She tried willing her muscles to relax, and when that didn’t work, pressed a finger to her clit to rub one off instead. 

Her hips had only just started rocking back against her finger when her phone went off, interrupting her shower and the more than pleasant thoughts she’d been having about a certain mouth and tongue on her clit. Tasting blood from where she’d bitten down on the inside of her cheek, she snarled and turned off the water, hastening to dry off enough to grab her phone. She’d missed the call but had a message. Deciding she’d listen to it when she was less annoyed, she grabbed the rest of her stuff and headed back to her room to listen to the message in the privacy of her own four walls. 

 

\--

 

He’d considered calling her back as soon as she’d left. Kylo had, admittedly, watched her through the window as she’d headed down the sidewalk. He was being fucking ridiculous and he knew it, but dammit all if she wasn’t the most interesting thing that’d happened to him since he’d gotten there. Strange that such a small nobody from the middle of nowhere, from what he could guess, would have such an enormous impact on him. Swallowing his urge to call out to her, he rose and dressed quickly. Hux would start bitching if he didn’t rally the recruits into cleaning the place up again and Kylo wasn’t keen on letting the ginger bastard ruin his good mood. He had a habit of doing it anyway, but the last thing he needed was an excuse. 

By the time he’d made it downstairs, said ginger was nursing a mug of steaming coffee and had a shit-eating grin on his face as soon as Kylo made his appearance. “So. You pulled rank after all.” 

“Did the legacy end up choosing someone else?” Kylo asked, disappearing into the kitchen to grab himself a mug. Ugh, the whole place fucking reeked of weed and spilled beer, and he wished he’d put on shoes to combat the stickiness of the floor, but at least Hux made damn strong coffee. Making a note to have Hux include “not spilling your fucking drinks everywhere” in his next “pep talk,” he headed back out to find that Hux’s eyes were still on him, curiosity making them bright. Great. That had never particularly bode well for Kylo, Hux’s interest more or less self serving and often invasive as all fucking get out, but Kylo determinedly hid his irritation. Might as well get it over with. Besides, for once he was triumphant, and those were always far better stories to tell than ones ending in his defeat. 

“If he did it wasn't because I made him. I was far too interested to see whether or not she’d kick your ass out as soon as she realized who it was waiting for her.” Hux took a sip of his coffee. Kylo swore he saw the steam come out the man’s nose. “I’m amazed she didn’t. Did you actually charm her?”

Kylo let himself smirk. Charm? He wasn’t so sure he was capable of that. “I scored, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

“Oh thank god.” Hux looked relieved, though really Kylo was sure that he’d already known it. They both knew he’d be unmanageable had he not gotten what he’d wanted. It wasn’t his finest trait, but dammit it came with results. “She must’ve been really drunk, then. Or else Luke pissed her off.”

Kylo’s good mood soured immediately. His lips twisted down and his grip on the mug tightened so much that it sloshed over the side. “What does Luke have to do with this?” He’d seen the beginnings of his uncle at the party but hadn’t stuck around to see what had become of him. Hadn’t  _ cared  _ what had happened. He sort of flitted in and out of Kylo’s life as he pleased, and though Kylo would’ve preferred never to see him again, at least his uncle seemed as equally prepared to never really talk to him again. 

“Oh, you must’ve been upstairs prepping for your girl,” Hux said with a snicker. “But your favorite family member and she got into a bit of a spat. Apparently she’d been talking to him about applying to Alpha Omega.” Hux’s gaze could’ve cut through solid flesh if it was any sharper. “And he told her it was no longer around. How long d’you think it’ll be until she finds out he’s lying and dumps your ass, and these parties, for that--.” 

Anything else was cut off by the sound of Kylo’s mug crashing against the opposite wall, denting the drywall and spilling hot coffee everywhere. He turned on his heel to disappear before he punched the knowing smirk off of Hux’s face. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay in chapters! I've been teasing at this one for freaking ever, and it's finally . . . well, done. I'm not particularly proud of it, tbh, but at least it's out there and it's an update. Better than nothing! I scrapped it half a dozen times I swear but I'm at least content with this iteration.   
> Thank you so much for reading, and while I can't promise when the next chapter will be out, I haven't abandoned any of my fics! It's just all a little crazy over here.


	8. Eight

Jess had suckered all the others into going out that evening to the Resistance’s house, and even though Rey was absolutely exhausted, she knew it was going to be the best chance she had to ask some questions about just how involved Alpha Omega was, and whether or not it’d actually dropped off the face of the planet, or if Luke had lied to her. The message on her phone left her mind completely as she tossed it to the side in favor of opening up her books. If she was going out again tonight then she had to get some work done at least. She wasn’t going to act as though she’d slept with the GA and now expected some sort of preferential treatment, no way in hell. 

Even if said GA messaged her as soon as her computer came online, her computer pinging with the message. 

KYLO: Had a great time last night. Doing anything tonight? It’s a little backward but I’d like to take you to dinner.

Really? This guy had no chill! She let loose a low groan and rubbed her temples with both hands. What the hell was she supposed to respond to that with? 

REY: You’re my GA. Don’t think it’s allowed. 

KYLO: I won’t tell if you won’t. Besides, that didn’t matter last night.

REY: I’m sober now.

KYLO: Want me to fix that? 

Wow. Well, at least she knew where he stood. So much for being a model student and all that. Then again, she supposed no one would expect perfection coming from a First Order member. Sighing to herself, she didn’t answer, choosing instead to leave his offer unanswered on the offhand chance that the NSA was looking on. She didn’t want to get in trouble. 

At least, that was the excuse she’d give him come Monday if he asked about why she didn’t accept his offer. 

He didn’t give her until Monday to wait for a response. Even though she’d moved on to a different tab her computer gave her an update, letting her know that he’d messaged her back regardless. She bit her tongue, debating whether or not she’d want to even answer him back. He had no idea how to give her any space, and while last night had been fun she wasn’t exactly looking for anything else. If he was going to get all clingy it just wasn’t going to work out. At all. 

Still, curiosity got the better of her some five minutes later. At least, she thought proudly, she’d lasted that long. Her eyes skimmed his message once, then a second time, before she sat back and tugged her legs up into her chair, hugging them to her chest. 

KYLO: Look, Rey. I really like you. I understand me being your GA seems like it would complicate things, but it doesn’t have to. We were friends on here before that, we met before you came into my class, and I’d really like to at least give it a shot. If you don’t want to that’s your prerogative, but I’d ask that you don’t judge me based solely on the company I keep, but how well I keep you when you’re in mine. 

She felt her cheeks heating up as she stared at it, the words tattooing themselves on the back of her eyelids. What the hell was she supposed to make of that? Last night had been fun, sure. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it. But going out? Letting him take her somewhere? Sounded like a quick way to get into trouble, no matter how sure he was. 

Still. Her stomach turned, but her fingers found their way to the keyboard with practiced ease. 

REY: Yeah, alright. Pick me up near the Sweeny building at 7. Take me out somewhere out of town. Somewhere nice.

KYLO: Done. See you then. 

 

\--

 

_ Hi, Ms. Sand. This is Leia Organa, Chair of Student Activities and Financial Aid. I believe I may have a position that’s of interest to you, if you could call me back as soon as possible that would be wonderful. Here’s my number. Also, don’t believe everything that Luke Skywalker tells you; he’s many things, but a coward is chiefest among them.  _

 

\--

 

Kylo’s heart pounded as he pulled up just outside the English and Philosophy building, eyes scanning the landscape for the thin from that was Rey Sand. He’d all but memorized her body even before he’d had her in his bed, and now that he’d become so well acquainted with it he didn’t know how he could miss it. 

He didn’t. His gaze was drawn to her as she stepped away from the bench she’d taken a seat at and made a beeline for his car. He didn’t know how it was she knew it was his, given that he’d never told her what to look for, but she seemed to have a sixth sense for it. All the better, he supposed, and he grinned as she opened the passenger’s side door and slid inside. 

“Hey,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. He ignored how she tensed. 

“Not here, please,” she murmured. “You’re still my GA.” 

He rolled his eyes, shifting the car into Drive so that he could pull away from the building. They’d hardly made it a couple hundred feet out of town when he pulled over, leaned in, and cupped the side of her face so he could kiss her hard on the lips. She didn’t fight him, just hummed against his lips. Her teeth sank into the bottom one, causing him to gasp, and he surged against her. 

“Fuck, Rey,” he purred when she pulled away for air. “Didn’t think you’d meant it--.” 

“I don’t talk out of my ass, Kylo. When I say something, I mean it.” Her eyes were hard and he had to suppress a shiver. “Now, are you taking me dinner, or are you taking me right here on the side of the road? Because only one of those is going to end well for you.” 

His eyes searched hers and he felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards. He’d known exactly what it was he was getting when he’d asked her out, and it was a damn relief that she didn’t disappoint. The wit that she so freely gave was addictive, to say the least, and he found himself wanting to keep them there if only to see what her reaction would be. 

His baser instincts won out as he slid the car out of park once more and continued on down the road once he was able. He didn’t miss the smug smile that curved her mouth, or the way that she squeezed her thighs tightly together when she thought his attention was elsewhere. He knew he wasn’t the only one who felt that strange draw between them. The question, he thought as his eyes skirted over to her once more, was whether or not she’d act on it without liquor being involved. 

Time would tell. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but I hope it was worth it. I'll try and be better at updating <3


	9. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for your patience on this update and with this fic, I really appreciate it. I'm going to try and update at least once a month, though I cannot make any promises. Things are a little crazy town here, but regardless, please enjoy the chapter. I'm running a little behind for work at the moment, so any mistakes are my own and I will rectify them when I return. Thanks much!

She’d asked for out of town and nice, and the restaurant that Kylo pulled up in front of twenty minutes later was both of those things. Tucked in a small corner of the next town over, he found a close enough spot to park near the entrance and got out to open the door for her. It gave Rey all the time she needed to text the name of the restaurant to Finn, just out of precaution, and to observe the man who she’d agreed to go out with. She’d had a feeling that things were going to be awkward, and apart from the silence that hung between them she was glad to find that wasn’t the case. Sure, he was at least ten or so years her senior. Sure, he obviously came from money to have afforded First Order, and his car, and to take her out to eat at what looked like a place with a valet, whose patrons wore suits and fancy dresses that made her own cream spring dress pale in comparison. 

But he’d asked her out. He saw something in her, somehow, and hadn’t stopped pestering her until she’d finally given in. If it was just to sleep with her he would’ve gotten it out of his system already. So was all this extravagance because he genuinely liked her? Her stomach flipped at the idea, and a weight seemed to settle on her shoulders. Shit. This wasn’t supposed to be so difficult. 

He opened the door for her and offered her his hand when she made to get out. She hesitated for the space of a heartbeat before taking it. She’d agreed to go out on a date, she should probably at least try to be nice. 

“Thank you,” she said softly as he closed the door behind her and led her towards the door, her hand firmly cemented in his own. 

“You’re welcome.” His smile was warm and made her toes curl in her nude flats, the nicest pair of shoes she owned since she’d vowed not to wear her high heels until her feet forgave her for having walked home in them. “I hope you like Italian.” 

She nodded, eyes searching the lavish decor as they stepped inside, a little taken aback by the deep bronze and red color scheme that all but screamed  _ MONEY.  _ She liked food, not all that picky about what type. When she thought fancy her first idea was Olive Garden, or Carrabba's. This? This looked authentic and ridiculously out of her price range, with its wide tables, rich red chairs, the pale cream tablecloths, and gold edged plates already placed on what few empty tables there were. 

‘ _ You said nice. Don’t be mad because he’s taking you at your word _ .’ 

Their reserved booth was a secluded one, and though Rey knew it couldn’t have been by coincidence she still thanked the host after she’d finished walking them to their table. Kylo’s knowing grin said it all as he pulled her chair out behind her, then pushed it in when she sat. Their table had already been set, a small candle burning in a red vase between them, when their waiter made himself known. Bottle of red wine already in hand, he uncorked it without a word, without waiting to check Rey’s ID, and poured them both a glass. The specials, which sounded as though he’d been reciting all day, sounded so very far from what Rey had been expecting that she jumped on the first word she recognized. “Chicken. I’ll have that.” 

She didn’t miss Kylo’s sharp grin as the waiter nodded, looking almost grateful that he didn’t have to explain it any further, before Kylo opted for the steak. Of course. It’d sounded like a lot, but hell, it wasn’t her bill. 

No sooner had the man walked away then she had Kylo’s full attention once more. “So, is this a nice enough restaurant for you?” he asked, sounding more than pleased with himself. 

She swallowed thickly and nodded. “Yeah, it’ll do,” she said, trying to sound as offhanded as she could. Rather than touch the wine she opted to sip at the glass of water already left for her, not so sure if she should even consider drinking. Every time she and alcohol came anywhere close to each other and Kylo was nearby it seemed as though he got under her skin, got her to act out. 

He noticed, of course, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “You said out of town so you could drink, I assumed.” 

“I said out of town so that no one who was in our class would recognize us. You’re technically my teacher,” she said, tone hard as she stared at him. Was he really so thick as to assume that she needed to drink around him? Granted, outside of class it was usually preferable to be a couple glasses of wine or bottles of beer in, but still. “I wouldn’t have assumed I was drinking at all given that I legally cannot.” She said the last part as quietly as she dared. 

His lips formed a small ‘o’ of understanding, before his face broke out with a laugh. It transformed him almost entirely, taking her breath away as a result. He looked younger by years, as though the past had simply dropped off his shoulders and from his face. His eyes were bright when he finally came down, and his expression one of utter bemusement. At least she could entertain him easily enough. “Well, I fucked that one up, didn’t I?” 

“You could just ask,” Rey said, a teasing smile tipping the corners of her lips. 

“I think I was too taken aback by the fact that you actually said yes to do much more than make reservations,” he admitted. He paused as she sipped at her water, then leaned in a little closer. “Why did you say yes, anyway?” 

Yeah, she wasn’t really feeling like answering the question that she didn’t even know herself. She looked away, her hands dropping to her lap to play with the edge of the tablecloth. “Thought it was worth a shot,” she said with a small shrug. “You don’t exactly leave me alone. You weren’t half bad in bed--.” 

“Not half bad?” he spluttered, nearly spitting up the sip of wine he’d taken in his haste to get the words out. His face grew red and he had to cover his mouth with a napkin as he coughed. Her own cheeks burned in embarrassment, sure that the eyes of every patron were on them. Would they be able to tell that the two of them weren’t supposed to be out? That he was far too old for her, and she was his student by all technicalities? 

“Smooth,” she muttered under her breath. 

“Not half bad?” he repeated, voice gravel-hard. “I thought I was pretty damn great, thanks very much.” 

Rey blinked once, twice, and had to keep from reaching out to smack him. Seriously? It was his damn ego that was the hang up for him? “You aren’t full of yourself at all. Are you?” She could hardly keep from rolling her eyes at how ridiculous the whole conversation had turned to be. If he was that easily offended when she tried to compliment him what the hell would he do when she told him how she really felt about some of his other habits that she didn’t care for? 

Her right hand itched to take her phone, to call Finn and have him get her the hell out of here. There were too many stories about girls who spoke their minds, and of the men who were unable to take the truth and so lashed out in retaliation. Was she going to be one of them? She certainly hoped not, and her leg started to jiggle uncontrollably as she tried to alleviate some of the anxiety welling up within her. 

The creepily intense look he was giving her didn’t help much, either, but he seemed to realize it quickly enough. He averted his eyes, turning his gaze instead to the tablecloth, then the glass of wine in front of him. She watched as he chewed on his bottom lip as if it would help him with his next statement. After a couple heartbeats he sighed. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, or come off . . . as narcissistic as you seem to think I am.” 

He let loose a groan under his breath, one that gave her chills, unsure if it was a good or bad sign,. The jitters that made her foot bounce only grew stronger. Slowly, she swallowed and asked: “What did you mean, Kylo?”

 

\--

 

Kylo’s gaze snapped up at her question and for a moment he forgot entirely where they were. It was cliche to the nth degree,  _ ridiculous _ , and pathetic, but he swore--swore!--that for one half of a second the world stopped spinning around them. His heart caught in his chest as heat blossomed under his collar. Already his ears burned at his pathetic attempts to save his ego, but right then, with her looking at him so intently? Her every breath in tune with his own, her eyes affixed to his? What did some embarrassment matter? 

The light had to be hitting her just right, or there was something in his wine that was making him . . . crazy.  _ Crazy _ . It wasn’t a word he liked to associate with himself, but as he forced himself to take a sip of water maybe (just maybe) there was some truth behind it. 

“Kylo?” 

His silence hadn’t gone unnoticed and he scrambled for an explanation. “There was something-- _ is _ something--between us, and I swear . . . I can’t be the only one who noticed it when we hooked up, or hell when we saw each other that first night at the house. “ He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling small pinpricks there. He was saying too much, but now that he’d started there was no stopping. “I’ve felt it ever since then, and having you in class with me, well. It was proof, to me, that there had to be something else between us. It’s why I’ve pursued you so vigorously.” 

She was quiet and he found himself drowning in the silence, unable to look away from her gaze and wanting desperately to hide from it. It set his teeth on edge to be laid so bare before someone, let alone someone who he hardly knew. But when she looked at him  _ like that _ ? 

“Vigorously is a good word for it,” Rey finally said, and he watched with a budding sense of relief as the corners of her lips turned upwards. “I half expected you to pull out a ring and pop the question. I know  _ I’m  _ good in bed--.” 

“Hey,” he laughed. “Now who’s got the ego?” 

“Maybe I just need to remind you how good I can be, Professor Ren.” 

Fuck. Would it be too gauche to pay for the bill, take their meals to go, and fuck her in the nearest hotel? He wasn’t even sure he’d be able to make it back to the house, let alone walk with her up the stairs and to his room. He’d have to finagle his way past Hux, and Phasma--. 

As his brain shorted out she must’ve taken her shoes off, and the pad of her foot slid up his left calf, very clear as to where its final destination was. He sucked in a quick breath, sure his eyes widened in surprise, as Rey smiled demurely. The brat. There was nothing subtle about the pressure she exerted against his inner thigh, or his already hardening cock, drawing a hiss from his lips. 

“I don’t want to go back to the house,” she said simply, keeping her voice low. “Or my dorm.” 

He blinked rapidly. There it was again, that damn connection, the way that she seemed to know exactly what it was he was thinking. “We don’t have to.” 

“I’d rather you take me right now, ravage me in front of everyone sitting here.” 

He had half a mind to do it. Letting these fancy motherfuckers see them rutting there against the pristine tablecloth, the sound of her moaning as he pounded into her in front of their audience, sounded like a damn dream that he’d never known he’d wanted before. He’d just shifted in his seat, half prepared to get up and take her up on that offer before their salads cluttered the table, when she laughed and broke him from his spell. 

“Oh, wow. I was kidding about that last part.” 

“Oh.” He’d fallen for it, and caught her ankle in retaliation. His fingers pressed deftly against her feet, and now it was her turn to squirm, caught between wanting to laugh and moan given the conflicting emotions that flashed across her face, easy to read as a child’s book. “What if I wanted to?” he asked, eyebrows rising as he dragged his forefinger down her sole. She shivered, her eyes widening. For once he felt as though he’d caught her off guard, truly off guard, and the idea sent a bolt of thrill through him. 

“I’d tell you too bad,” she gasped, her hands finding the edges of her chair and squeezing, given the tension in her shoulders. “And that if you need me that badly you can wait till after dinner. Or not at all.” 

He paused, then slowly released her foot to let it fall back down. 

“Thank you,” she breathed, smiling a little, though the color was still high in her cheeks. “I appreciate that.” 

“Whatever you want, Rey.” He dipped his head, and took another sip of his wine. Patience. He needed to learn patience, even as that tension between them sizzled, liable to catch fire to the whole restaurant and burn them along with it. The spark in her gaze told him that she felt it, too. 

 

They didn’t make it to dessert before she asked him to take her back. The closest hotel was half a minute away, literally, and it was with a very giggly, red faced Rey that Kylo ordered them a suite for the night. The concierge eyed the pair of them, but nodded and with a look that said she knew she was in for a long night offered them up a pair of key cards. Kylo gave her a tight smile as he took them, then guided Rey towards the elevator with a hand on her low back. 

He might’ve snuck grabbing her ass once, but she didn’t react until the doors of the elevator closed behind them. She turned, gripped him by the lapels of his jacket, and shoved him up against the wall. “Aren’t you impatient?” she hissed, eyes dark as she stared up at him. He nodded, desperately leaning down to kiss her. She shied away, turning her head and grinning when she looked back at him. “You want to kiss me in the elevator? That’s a little cliche, don’t you think?” 

Alright. She wanted a game? 

“When the doors open I’ll give you ten seconds to run ahead of me, get to our door, and let yourself in,” he said, offering her one of the key cards. “If you get there first and can manage to close the door behind you, before I get there, you get to take the lead tonight. If not--I do.” 

“Promise?” she asked, mouth falling open a little as she stared up at him. She really was short. 

“I do.” 

The elevator dinged and she was out of the doors in the space of the heartbeat after that. The longest ten seconds of his life followed, during which his eyes followed her she scanned the rooms, trying to find the right number that matched the one on her card. When it was his turn to join the fray she’d only just found the room, and he had seconds to get to her before she closed herself in. He saw her fumble with the key card, heard her curse, but when she stepped inside he managed to force his foot between the door and the frame. 

She swore, and he grinned as he pushed the door open. Rey’s cheeks were red and her eyes bright. “You knew it’d take me time to find the right door. You saved yourself the hassle by having me do it.” 

He shrugged. “Maybe.” 

Rey looked, admittedly, torn between telling him to leave, or letting herself out of her own volition. She’d agreed to his game, but losing hadn’t been in her mind at all. Fear curled in the pit of his gut, and he closed the distance between them to kiss her, hoping it would be enough. 

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tugged him down. “Alright. What do you want with me?”

God, alive. Where did he start? 

 

\--

  
_ Hello, Rey, this is Armitage Hux from Phi Omega. I just wanted to let you know that we have looked over your application and would like to welcome you to our fraternity. Congratulations. If you are interested in this excellent opportunity at an illustrious fraternity house, please give me a call back at this same number. Have a pleasant weekend.  _


	10. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as ever for being so patient with me! I hope this chapter is very much worth the wait: it's almost pure sin. The response to this piece has always floored me, and you guys continue to make my days better with every comment. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading and reviewing. It means the world to me.

Rey could count on one hand the number of times she’d been tricked or baited. Once, a neighbor kid named Teedo had convinced her that she was actually royalty, and that any day a grandmother she’d once known and had since forgotten would bring her a jewelry box that only Rey had a key to, and she’d be pulled out from Plutt’s care. He’d made her swear to take him with her, and kissed Rey when she’d agreed, drunk on the idea of family, and getting away from the sweaty monster of a man she called her guardian. 

She’d pummeled Teedo black and blue when she realized he’d been citing the plot to Anastasia. Plutt hadn’t bothered to feed her when she got suspended for a week, and she’d resorted to having to pilfer what food she could get when he was passed out. She’d never spoken to Teedo again, but it was the bruises that really carried her message across. 

Now, as Kylo advanced on her with eyes like fire, she wondered whether the same method would work on him. She doubted it. Knowing him he’d like it, and then where would they be? Rey wet her lips, anxiously searching his gaze for some sign of what was going to happen next, stepping backwards more out of habit than out of any  _ real  _ fear. She hoped that strange sense of surety wasn’t misguided. 

Knowing her, though, it probably was. 

“Are you afraid of me?” His voice was a low rumble, one that shot a bolt of fire between her legs and made her breath come up short. 

“Not of you,” she said honestly, though her brain was scrambling for what to say next. “Of whether or not you’ll live up what memories I have of the last time we fucked. You see, I hardly remember it--.” 

He cut her off with his mouth on hers, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip, and she knew she’d won. He was impulsive, driven by some insane need to outdo everyone around him, and that she could work with. Turning the tides, being the tricker, rather than the tricked? That she could do. She loosened and kissed him back, feeling the tension start to seep from between her shoulders. She grabbed a hold of her dress and moved to shimmy out of it, but he pulled away and pressed his hands to hers, shaking his head. 

“No, not like that. Slowly.” His lips parted, his breathing short as he watched her hungrily. Rey smirked and turned around, affording him a look at her backside in her dress. Shoving away any insecurities she might’ve had and closing her eyes to pretend she was back in her dorm acting like an idiot, she reached to undo her zipper, easing it down as she began to sway her hips to an even “one-two” beat in her head. It kept her grounded, swaying her hips and dropping herself downwards, then slithering back to standing so that she could slip her dress off in one fluid motion. Kylo groaned behind her, but she didn’t look. Her panties were cute, and actually matched the deep purple bra she’d picked out, the lace sliding between her cheeks to afford him a better look at her ass. She hooked her thumbs in the sides of her panties and turned to stare brazenly at him, watching his gaze fall to her cunt to watch as she slowly removed them, sashaying her hips all the while. She must’ve looked like an idiot, but Kylo said nothing about it as he stared on, open mouthed and dark eyed. On a whim, she tossed her panties at him, and watched in a mix of confusion and . . . arousal as he pocketed them. 

What the hell was wrong with her? 

Her bra she could unclasp from the front, baring her breasts to him with a slow smirk of her own before dropping the offending garment to the floor with a soft ‘thud.’ There she stood, in nothing but her skin, one hip cocked to the side, as she watched him rub his face with his right hand. His cock already tented his pants and she wet her lips as she looked down at it, then back up. 

“You want me to suck you off?” she offered, unsure why he hadn’t said anything yet. 

“Not--not yet. Just. You’re really hot.” He rubbed the back of his neck while Rey arched a brow. 

“Hot?” she repeated, moving to sit back on the bed, her head tipping to the side. “Hot.” Was that meant to be a smooth compliment? He wasn’t doing too well. 

His ears burned bright red and she might’ve found it adorable, but she’d never tell him. “Well, I mean--.”

Rey parted her legs, dipping her right hand between her legs to spread herself to his gaze. She swore she saw him choke on air. “Hot, am I?” Biting her lip, she slid her thumb slowly over her clit, before pressing two fingers inside of herself. She moaned, mouth falling open as she stared brazenly at him. Gooseflesh had risen over her skin, causing her nipples to harden, and she let her left hand rise to fondle her breasts one at a time, kneading the soft flesh as Kylo watched intently. He’d taken his cock out, the tip red and leaking precome, which his thumb swirled around the head. The sight set the fire in her belly to burning, and she had to struggle not to reach out to take him in her hand, mouth, or cunt. Any of them sounded amazing, but she wasn’t one to beg. “Hot enough for you?” 

He looked as though all he could do was nod, and though Rey’s stomach muscles ached she kept going, determined to keep it up as long as she could. “Then why don’t you come here and do something about it, Kylo? Or are you gonna watch me play with my cunt all night?” 

 

\--

 

She had broken his brain, of this he was positive. He’d been with many girls before--too many for him to honestly admit, let alone to her--and none of them had affected him this profoundly. He’d been half hard at the idea of going out with her, and when she’d let him bring her back to the hotel he’d struggled to not jump her as soon as the car door had closed. So how was it, with this beautiful naked woman in front of him, her fingers playing with her clit, her eyes hooded and lips parted, he found he couldn’t so much as move? 

What in the actual hell had she done to him? 

His cock ached, begging to be touched, and he wasn’t even embarrassed to look down and find he had a wet spot where his precome had leaked through his boxers and pants. Anxious to relieve some of the pressure, he unzipped himself as Rey pressed two fingers inside of her and moaned with the action. He took his cock in hand, stroking it a couple times but finding he could do very little else besides watch her. 

He didn’t want the show to stop, didn’t want the spell to break, and while he’d done his very best to take control of their situation she’d figured out how to out maneuver him. Again. 

That it turned him on all the more was something he’d need to examine back in the privacy of his room. 

“Hot enough for you?” she asked, her lips swollen and slick from where she’d bitten and licked them, her words punctuated by the very faint sounds of her digits disappearing into her slit. 

He nodded, not sure that he could compute doing much else. Out of instinct, his hand squeezed the base of his cock to stave off his orgasm, and he let loose a broken groan at the pressure. 

“Then why don’t you come here and do something about it, Kylo? Or are you gonna watch me play with my cunt all night?”

It was as if his body had been waiting for permission. Kicking off his pants, boxers, and shoes all in one clusterfuck of a movement, he very nearly stumbled on his way over, ignoring the way she bit back a giggle to lean in and kiss her. It wasn’t sweet, or tender, but he supposed they both knew what they were getting into and sweet or tender certainly weren’t on the docket. His teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she opened up to him with a moan of wanting that made his whole body ache. His fingers tangled with the buttons of his shirt, ripping it off as quickly as he could so that he could sink his hands into her soft, brown hair, only to find that she beat him to the punch. Her fingers wrapped around the tendrils of his own hair and tugged, pulling him away with a gasp as she bit and sucked her way down his throat. The hand that had been fucking herself wrapped around his cock instead, tugging and spreading her slick across his length. He swore, back arching and hands instead finding her shoulders to grab on for purchase. “Rey--Rey, oh  _ shit _ . Not so hard.” He hissed through his teeth, and she backed off almost immediately, pulling away to stare up at him. Guilt threaded her gaze, and he shook his head with a small smile.

“You’re just gonna make me come too quickly,” he assured her, kissing her lips slowly. “I want to do so much more with you before I come.” 

Her lips parted into a small ‘o’ of understanding, before her expression turned devilish. “Then do something about it, Kylo. We’ve got all night, not till the end of the world.” 

He groaned, and his hands found purchase on her hips to lift her up and scoot her further back onto the bed. She reclined, though she didn’t pull her gaze away as he climbed over her, kissing his way up her thighs and running his hands down her legs. He parted them with ease, pulling them over his shoulders to give him better access to her slit as he marveled at the softness of her skin, and how wet she was for him. Mouth watering, he pressed forward until his lips met with her cunt, tongue flicking out to lap from the base of her slit to the very top, before pressing slowly to her clit. A shudder ran through her body, and he moved his hands up to cup her backside, squeezing the globes of her ass before he tilted her hips in such a way to allow him better access. She moaned as he pressed his tongue inside of her, swallowing her arousal until he thought he might drown in it. Again, one of her hands sought to grab hold of him by his hair, and he shivered as she pulled just tight enough to lace pain with pleasure. He ached with his desire to bury himself in her, the tip of his cock sliding against the soft bedsheets, but he didn’t dare stop to tend to himself. Oh no. He wanted her screaming, gushing around him, so utterly wrecked that she never thought about taking another lover. 

When she came the first time it was with his thumb over her clit and his tongue buried deep within her, swallowing her release as her thighs clenched around his ears, muffling the sound of her shouts. If they didn’t get at least one noise complaint then Kylo wasn’t doing his job. 

“Fuck--fuckfuckfuck, Kylo.  _ Kylo _ .” She was gasping, her back arched and her hands abandoning his scalp to practically rip holes in the sheets. She jerked away when the sensation became too much, her thighs trembling as she stared down at him with parted lips, breathing ragged. 

“Why are you so good at that?” she demanded, words without any real heat, just naked curiosity. He simply grinned, and slid upwards to kiss her. The tip of his cock brushed against her slit, and as her hands curled around his shoulders he found himself groaning as she managed to shift her hips just enough to take the head of him inside of her. Her body shook with the effort, and he gripped her hips in order to roll them over. She sank onto his cock with a groan, nails digging into his back as she went. How long they remained like that, Rey’s breasts pressed against his chest, her pupils blown wide but focused intently on him as her hips twitched and her cunt squeezed him like a vice, he couldn’t have said. They found a rhythm soon enough with his hands on her hips, helping to raise and lower her onto his cock over and over again, his mouth sucking constellations of bruises on her throat and collarbones as she writhed and tensed atop him. 

She came with a deep, guttural groan that had his toes curling, and it was all he could do to keep her from breaking the skin as she leaned in to bite the cords of his throat in her passion. He came with one last swivel of her hips, and he swore the whole time, furious with himself for not lasting as long as he wanted even as his cock painted her insides with his spend. 

Her smile was very much one of the cat who’d gotten the cream as she looked up at him, pale skin splotchy and covered in a fine sheen of sweat. She leaned in to kiss his cheek and patted his other one. “Calm down, Kylo. I don’t plan on sleeping anytime soon.” 

_ Oh thank God.  _

 

He dropped her off at the dorm the next morning, the pair of them narrowly missing a late fee after Rey decided to suck him off soon as they’d woken up, which hadn’t been an hour until they were supposed to check out. Internally, he swore he loved her, but he kept that idea very much to himself. Any other time he would’ve written it off as the feeling having been due to her lips wrapped around his cock, somehow this felt different. Not that she needed to know. She didn’t strike him as the type to take vows of love, uttered while receiving head or not, all that well, and he’d be damned before he scared her off. Instead, he’d kissed her before they’d gotten back to the city, and dropped her off in front of the Humanities building so that she could walk back to her dorm without anyone seeing the pair of them. 

“You should join up with First Order,” he said on a whim, just as he’d pulled the car into the lot. 

She froze, hand on the door, and looked back over at him with a sharpness that he only saw when they were about to disagree about something. Usually politics. “I don’t think so. Besides, it’s a frat.”

He shrugged. “Phasma’s part of it. She lives at the house. You could room with me.” His grin was broad, and he hoped reassuring, but given that her own steely gaze didn’t waver he somehow doubted it. 

“I’m not that desperate,” she said, voice hard. “Thanks, Kylo, for the fun night. But that’s not going to happen.” 

“Rey, just think about it. I know you’ve talked to Luke Skywalker about joining Alpha Omeg--.”

She snarled, and pulled herself free from the seatbelt, wrenching the door open on her side before he could so much as reach over to stop her. “I’ll see you in class,” she growled, and slammed the door shut in his face before he could do much more. Anger, frustration, rage boiled just beneath the surface of his skin as the pleasure from the last night was utterly forgotten in his irritation at being brushed off so easily. He’d said the wrong thing but that was no damn reason for her to be so fucking rude. He’d taken her out like she’d asked, hadn’t he? All it took was one misspoken word and she was willing to throw that all away? 

He threw the car into drive and sped out of the lot so fast that he left tire marks on the pavement. She couldn’t ignore him forever, no matter how badly she wanted to, and he’d get her eventually. She’d see. 


	11. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for your patience and for your comments! They've really helped me get through this chapter, and I really appreciate all of the feedback. You're, all of you, absolutely amazing. Thank you so much.   
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Two voicemails and the beginnings of a pounding headache awaited the rest of Rey’s evening, and she very nearly snarled as Jess and her friends as she stepped into their dorm wearing the exact same dress as she’d left in yesterday. Her roommate’s gaze was reproachful, irritated even, but at that moment Rey couldn’t bring herself to give a shit. Slamming her door shut and shutting the thin blinds, she stripped as quick as she could, very nearly ripping her dress in her haste. What the actual fuck was wrong with Kylo? Where did he get off assuming she’d ever join First Order? Just because she’d enjoyed fucking him didn’t mean she was going to be exclusive, or that they were dating. Hell, they’d had one evening out together--and with him being her TA it wasn’t like they could walk around campus holding hands.    
She actually growled as she flounced onto her bed, bra thrown off with the rest of her clothes, panties--.    
‘ _Still in his damn pocket. I’ll kill him_.’    
Her phone beeped again, alerting her to the two missed calls and unheard messages, which she thought not unkindly about deleting without evening listening. Who even called anymore? Did they realize that texting was an option? 

Huffing, and realizing that deleting them immediately was a stupid as hell idea, she opted to listen to the most recent first. A polite, British voice on the other end introduced himself as Hux, and her stomach dropped even without having to listen to the rest. She didn’t submit any application, hadn’t thought to join because--though it might’ve been a place to live--she wasn’t digging anything they stood for. Sure, free booze was free booze from their parties, and better that she drank it than pay for her own, but illustrious fraternity or not she shuddered to think what their rushing would be, for her of all people. 

‘ _ Kylo would keep you safe. _ ’ 

Kylo could go to  _ hell _ . She snarled, more irritated with herself for thinking such a thing than at Kylo for likely having entered an application for her to join. No, that was a lie. She was still furious with him. 

There came a knock at her door before she could listen to the next message. Shit. “Just a second,” she called, jumping out of bed to throw on a tank top and pair of shorts, before opening the door. The others had cleared out, leaving just Jessica, her expression one of mild confusion and concern. 

“Can I come in?” she asked, not moving until Rey nodded and shifted to the side, allowing her a seat at Rey’s desk. They kept silent, Jess looking as if she didn’t know where to start, Rey realizing with a sinking feeling, which had nothing to do with her taking a seat on the worn mattress, that she’d completely bailed on her roommate last night. They were supposed to have gone out, despite Rey’s homework, and she’d spaced completely. She wet her lips, apology already on her tongue, when Jess cut in first. 

“So, did you end up having a good night? It kind of freaked me out that you disappeared without a word, I’m not going to lie.” 

Rey’s cheeks burned. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to bail--.” 

Jess shook her head. “You misunderstand. I worried that you were safe, Rey. You were just gone.” Jess’s hands, which had clasped her knees, tightened until her knuckles went white. “It wasn’t even about our plans. I. Look.” The other woman’s cheeks burned red, as if she was embarrassed, though Rey couldn’t figure out why for the life of her. “I’m not trying to mother you. You’re an adult, and more than capable of making your own choices. This isn’t coming from a belief that you can’t.” 

Rey was waiting for the ‘but’ to hit, her arms folding defensively, preemptively, over her chest. Bad habit, but still. 

“But.” 

A-hah.

“You went out to the First Order house a couple times already, which makes me wonder if you’re thinking about seeing someone from there.” 

“Finn’s in that frat.” Rey hadn’t meant the words to come out so defensively, but she couldn’t take them back now. She chewed on the inside of her cheek until it bled. “And he’s a good guy.” 

Jess shrugged. “He’s an exception. Trust me, that place has a reputation for bringing out the very worst in everyone who’s a part of it.” 

That wasn’t necessarily comforting to hear, but it wasn’t entirely untrue, either. She’d seen that, hadn’t she, with Kylo interacting with the others in his frat? Or the first guy that she’d interacted with, who’d tried to feel her up after she’d had a couple drinks? Hadn’t she heard stories--more than enough stories--about the girls who’d gone to the house and been pressured into sleeping with the guys there after they’d been plied with enough drinks?

How many of them had Kylo been with? A shiver went up her spine at the thought and she wrapped her arms around her waist. Shit. “You’ve got a point,” she muttered quietly, biting her bottom lip as she pulled her knees up to her chest. “I just. I don’t know. It’s Kylo. He’s my GA on top of all the rest of this shit, and he’s a--he’s really intense.” She bit her bottom lip. None of this was coming out right, dammit all. “But he’s not like that when it’s just him. He’s human when he’s by himself. If I could just get him like that, instead of having to deal with all the First Order bullshit.” 

Jessika’s gaze was patient, her hands folded in her lap as she listened to Rey work the issue out aloud for the two of them. In the end, it only made Rey’s stomach tighten all the more. Dammit. “Alright. You’ve got a point, Jess.” 

Her roommate gave a one-shouldered shrug, not saying anything, and not having to. Rey hated being wrong, but she wasn’t so much of a moron or so big-headed that she didn’t know when to admit it. “So, what do I do now?” 

“Why don’t you come to one of the parties at Rho? Next weekend, I mean. This weekend’s about spent anyway, and I’m guess you’ve still got a fuck ton of homework.” 

Rey chewed on the inside of her cheek. Yeah. “You remember that mothering thing you were trying not to do?”

Jess rose, her hands raised at either side of her chest, palms out, but the smile on her face said that she was at least good humored about it. “Alright, point taken. I’ll be in the main room, gonna catch up on How to Get Away With Murder. Lemme know if you need anything, yeah?” 

Rey nodded, and watched her roommate leave, wishing her stomach didn’t knot so painfully at the idea that she’d been wrong, and been an idiot about this whole situation. She wasn’t there for relationships, she wasn’t there for fucking around with some . . . guy . . . . Fucking around. 

Fuck.  _ Fuck! _

 

\--

 

Kylo hadn’t expected to hear a damn thing from Rey, honestly, for the rest of the week. Not until class at the very least. Hell, he hadn’t really wanted to see her until then, still irritated with how brusque and rude she’d been when all he’d been trying to do was  _ help _ . . . but a text saying: <come pick me up. I need plan b.> certain altered his perception about how soon he’d be seeing her. He’d pulled up at the dorm, already familiar with just which door she’d be coming from, and watched her small form push away from the wall to step towards his car. A strange sense of surrealism hit, making his head spin for the briefest of moments. He’d just said goodbye to her, had just made it back to the frat and started throwing shit around--. 

And now she was climbing back into his car, her face ashy as she fumbled around in a jacket that was too big, reaching into her pockets. She pulled out a fist of crumpled bills as he started to pull away from the building, counting them as quickly and quietly as she could. She didn’t so much as look at him, but he could hardly take his eyes away from her. It was a damn problem.

Given that he almost ran a red light, it certainly could turn into a larger, more deadly one if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass. 

“Why didn’t you pack a condom?” Rey demanded through her teeth, glowering up at him. He could feel the heat without even having to look, and felt his patience bristle. 

“I did. Several. You didn’t insist on one, so I assumed it was taken care of.” 

Her snort was derisive at best, and he watched her chew on the inside of her cheek as though she was keeping from saying what she really wanted to. He watched her only as long as he was allowed, pulled back into reality by the honking of a horn behind them. With a jolt, he slammed his foot on the gas and sped through the now green light towards the nearest Walgreens. They’d have Plan B there, he hoped. There had to be at least one place nearby that would have it--it was a damn college campus. Accidents happened, didn’t they? 

Fuck, he just hoped it worked. 

When he caught her fidgeting with her money again he shook his head, and put his hand over hers to press the bills back into her hand. “I’ve got this.” 

Her gaze was irritated to the extreme, her tone biting. “I don’t need your help.” 

It took all he had not to roll his eyes. Always so defensive, but he didn’t find it as aggravating as when Hux was. He had yet to figure out just why, or how she got away with it, but he wasn’t exactly looking to inspect those emotions any more than he had to, was he? 

“I’ve got this,” he reiterated, throwing the car into park as soon as he found them a close enough space. “I’ll go in alone. We’re still on campus. Best we’re not seen together just yet.” 

Her face paled at the idea, and she nodded. “Especially buying this sort of prescription,” she muttered. Again, she pulled herself closer, folding in on herself as if making herself smaller was the best option she had for beating the potential for life within her. He wondered what the odds were, what the crazy, ridiculous chances were for his seed having actually taken within her. 

The longer he thought about it the more disturbed he got by the possibilities. Children weren’t in the cards for him, certainly not now, with a girl who he’d had a couple of heated hook-ups with, but nothing more. Determinedly, he stood and headed inside, wallet burning a hole in his back pocket as he headed towards the family planning aisle. The small pills were encased in a larger, plastic box, one that required a key in order to open. He pulled at the box and surveyed the back, reading the weight restrictions, the time constraints as to when it was most effective, and the side effects. Issues with fertility stuck out in his mind, and he swallowed thickly at the thought that Rey might want kids one day--but there was no time to struggle with that. 

That she’d texted him at all, let alone after they’d had a spat, was proof enough that children weren’t in the cards for her at the moment either. He’d have to take that as her blessing to go ahead and make the purchase. He needed a worker to pop the plastic box off, and had to endure the condescending, judgemental glare that he received from the woman behind the counter as she worked the key into the locking mechanism, starring from it, to the condoms and sprite he’d also throw up on the counter, then back to him. 

“You know the most effective form of birth control is abstinence,” the woman grated, her voice like nails scratching down glass. 

Yeah. It was a pity her parents didn’t believe in practicing safe sex that way. He just sneered and handed her his card, taking his bag of things with perhaps too much force before slamming his way out of the store. Fucking bitch. He yanked open and slammed the door of his car shut with similar gusto as well, offering up the bag to Rey. She took it mutely, staring at him from the corners of his eyes. It only pissed him off more. 

“Here. Got you a soda, too,” he said. “Should help with any nausea. It says you should avoid extra spicy food, too. Or anything that might upset your stomach. And that taking two is most effective.” 

He left out the bit about infertility. That wasn’t a conversation they were destined to have, not really. He watched her pop the pills from the box, then swallow them with almost practiced ease, and felt his limbs begin to relax by degrees. When she was halfway through the soda, and he had yet to move, she looked expectantly up at him. 

“You okay?” 

No. No, he wasn’t. He swallowed the words down and sighed heavily, pressing his forehead against the wheel of his car and forcing himself to take deep, steadying breaths. His uncle had taught him how to meditate in the past, had said that it always helped whenever he was stuck on a particular problem. 

“Sorry,” he finally said. “About . . . everything.” It couldn’t have been more of a vague answer, and he wanted to shoot himself in the foot for it. Sorry for everything? What was this, middle school? Where he apologized for ruining her life next when neither of them knew what exactly was going to happen? He took a slow, shuddering breath, and stilled to feel her palm pressed against his shoulder. 

“I know.” 


	12. Twelve

The next couple days passed Rey in a blur. Every gurgle her stomach made caused her throat to clench and her hands to fist at her sides, convinced that this time it would be morning sickness, or her reacting poorly to something she smelled or ate. Any time she went to grab a pair of yoga pants, she immediately decided against it, worried that if she stopped wearing jeans she’d never notice if she gained any weight. Her dreams were interrupted by nightmares of waking up to a monster trying to claw its way out of her abdomen--. 

Finn had to wake her up in the middle of poli sci, nudging her as gently as he could. “Hey, Rey. Class is done, we’ve gotta--.”

“Finn.” 

They both froze at the sound of Kylo’s voice and Rey felt her stomach drop further. Her gaze rose to see him standing above her, concern twisting his brow before hardening as it fixed on Finn. “I need a word with Ms. Sand. In private.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, Kylo,” Finn said, his eyes darkening as he stared down their teaching assistant. Rey wetted her lips, and her hand reached out to squeeze Finn’s in what she hoped was a comforting way. She wasn’t so sure if it accomplished her goal, given how he planted himself all the more at her side. She watched Kylo’s eyes immediately shift with the movement and had to stifle a groan. Men and their egos, it was absolutely ridiculous. “Finn, I’m fine. Really.” It might not have been the best of ideas, and given Finn’s surprised glance her way he was thinking along the same lines, but he let her hand go and headed out, hefting his bag over his shoulder. 

Kylo waited until the door shut behind him to speak. “How’re you feeling? I’ve been trying to get you alone--.” 

“I’m fine, thanks,” she said even as her gut churned. She wasn’t fine. She was anything but fine. How could she be when she’d forgotten protection? When the possibility of what could’ve happened--. A few hours of fun weren’t worth it. She’d been ignoring his attempts to get her alone for fear of saying just that, of pissing him off so irrevocably that he damaged the beginning of her career at a university she’d only just started. Still, she reminded herself: he had more to lose than she did. One wrong move on his behalf, one failed test score that she didn’t deserve, and she could call him on sexual harassment. If anything came of that night--well. There were different ways she could make it work if she had to. 

She hoped she didn’t have to. 

His expression softened, and she wished it didn’t. She could deal with him being a jackass, had perfected tolerating him at his very worst and most irritable. Sad or unsure--that she had a hard time handling. She couldn’t treat him like the jackass he was when he was trite about it. “Have you gotten--. I mean. I’m just worried about you is all.” 

Her face twisted upwards in a small sneer. “My period? You really want to talk about this, Kylo?” 

“I feel like we should. We didn’t have a discussion following that evening. About what we’d do.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek and half sat on the desk just behind him. “I mean. If you need help--taking care of it. If it comes down that.” He reached back and rubbed the back of his neck, expression pained as he kept butchering what it was he was trying to get at. Rey didn’t help him, crossing her arms over her chest and arching a brow. 

“You’ll help me? You’d want me to keep it?” 

He stopped, gaze skittish as he looked at her. For once the entirely comfortable and decidedly hot-and-cold Kylo Ren looked terrified, and Rey’s stomach dropped out. Yeah, that was what she thought. 

“Do you?--want to keep it, I mean?”

He was trying hard to put on a front, to keep his emotions under check and not look like an idiot. Rey had felt that way numerous times, mostly while she was under his scrutinizing eye. It was a relief to see that she wasn’t the only one in this . . . relationship, for lack of a better word, that felt as though they needed to keep up some semblance of a facade. 

“No. I don’t.” 

She wished she wasn’t relieved in the way that his body visibly relaxed at that. He took a seat opposite her, long legs spread out on either side of the chair just before her, his gaze heated as he folded his arms on the back. For once, he looked far younger than ever before, rattled, but keeping it together for her sake. Or someone’s, maybe his own. 

“So, are you pregnant, then? For sure?” 

She shrugged, eyes falling to her lap. She had her fingers locked so hard that her knuckles had gone white, and with what determination she had left in her, she forced them to relax. “I don’t know. It’s only been a couple days, Kylo. It can take weeks--months, even, before I’ll know. I wasn’t that close to my period to begin with, so there’s a chance. We might’ve missed it.” 

God above, she hoped so. She really, truly hoped so. If she ended up pregnant--fuck, she could hardly take care of herself, let alone another being. Let alone provide for someone else. The job at the library was provided that she had a place on campus, as a student, which meant that dropping out wouldn’t be possible. 

But there was no way she could afford the doctor’s bills, and all the other incurred expenses, on twenty hours a week at just above minimum. 

She felt a familiar pressure welling behind her eyes, and she blinked several times in order to force herself to calm down. No. She was not going to cry in a classroom, in front of  _ him _ , like this was some fucking TV drama. She needed to hold herself composed, to keep it together until she could get back to her room--. 

As the first droplet hit the back of her hand she heard Kylo’s chair scrape the ground. She looked up just in time to see him lean in to wipe away the trail of salt water left behind, causing another couple tears to dribble down her cheeks. Fuck. His brows knit together in a frown that made her heart clench, and she leaned into his hand as she felt herself start to completely lose her composition. 

He remained silent, letting her shoulders shake as he rubbed her cheek gently, unable to embrace her with the attached on desk between them, and when it got uncomfortable for the both of them he helped her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Let’s go back to my place. It’s closer.” 

She wasn’t in any position to argue. 

 

\--

 

He couldn’t have asked for a better time of day for Rey to have a breakdown, honestly. The house was very nearly empty, allowing them to sneak up to his room without worry of being discovered. She’d cried through the car ride, with his wide hand covering hers and squeezing her smaller knuckles in his palm while she bit back her whimpers. Something deep inside himself twinged at the pain that so clearly wracked her body. She was new to this school, a transfer in from some humdrum piece of shit town that he couldn’t even be bothered to remember, and they’d possibly fucked up what she had going for her. 

_ He’d  _ fucked it up. Sure, it took two to tango and all that trite bullshit, but who was it that’d forgotten a condom on their date? Who’d not bothered to go out and get some because he was too busy chasing tail? 

Who’d be caught for 18 fucking years of child support if she ended up keeping the kid? He’d seen first hand what sort of shit that did to a man courtesy of Han, and though he wasn’t a prick enough to try and fight it, he sure as shit didn’t want to be stuck paying for one night’s mistake for nearly two decades. 

‘ _ Shouldn’t have been the dumbfuck who forgot the condoms then, should you? _ ’

He led her back to his room, and she curled up on his bed with her back to him, her frame still trembling even as he moved to help tuck her in. Even though the mid-fall heat wave had kicked in, she still curled up under a sheet, comforter, and extra blanket, shivering as he rubbed her back gently. It’d been years since he’d genuinely taken care of anyone. His mother had lost her reelection, and she hadn’t taken it well. Understandably so, of course. She’d been miles above the others but--. Well. Being tied to Anakin Skywalker didn’t have merit for the uneducated imbeciles of the world. He’d been too young to understand it then, but his grandfather’s ghost had been affecting him since birth, altering which positions his mother felt comfortable applying and running for, and how his father reacted to the certain amounts of power that she was being given. 

His spare hand, the one not rubbing Rey’s back, clenched. Neither of them had the slightest of clues what it meant to be a Skywalker. How could they--with Leia refusing to take the name over her adopted one, and Han shutting down any and every mention of Anakin where he could help it. 

Beside him, Rey shifted and turned to look over in his direction. Her eyes were rimmed red, her lips and cheeks pale, but her eyes were curious and sharp as ever, so much so he feared he might cut himself if he wasn’t careful. “Are you mad at me? You’re shaking.” 

“No!” He spoke too quickly, and her eyebrows shot up, her whole body flinching as she recoiled from the sound. He bit his cheek. “No. I’m not mad at you, I promise. I was lost in thought, and it had nothing to do with you.

Her brows pulled down, and he quickly reanalyzed what he said. Fuck. How much of an idiot was he? “Not that I’m not thinking of you. Of course. I just mean that--well. I was thinking about something else that made me angry. Not you. You’ve never made me angry.” 

She didn’t look as though she believed him, but the color was slowly returning back into her face as she turned her body to stare. “Not when you dropped me off a few days ago?”

He shook his head. “No. That wasn’t me angry. Trust me. You, well. I hope you never see me angry.” It wasn’t a pretty sight. The house sported bruises and patched up plywood from his fits of anger. 

She wet her lips, and her voice was soft when she replied: “so do I.” So soft it hurt his chest to hear. He felt his body relaxing, his mouth parting as he found it difficult to breathe when she was looking so intently at him. 

“Do you want anything to eat? I’m sure we’ve got something edible if you’re hungry--.” 

“No.” She shook her head, and he shut up. “No. I was thinking. I was wondering if you’d lay down with me. I don’t want--I don’t want--.” 

To feel alone. She didn’t have to say it, didn’t need to say anymore as he started pulling off his button down, watching in some sort of absurd pleasure as her cheeks began to redden and her mouth started to try and backtrack. 

“Relax,” he assured her softly, pulling back the blankets. “I’m just getting more comfortable. Business casual isn’t all that great to lay down in, truthfully.” 

She shut her mouth, turning so that her back pressed up against his chest. His body molded to hers, and for a split second a thrill of victory, of success, washed through him, as she allowed him to wrap an arm around his waist, and then to bury his face in her shoulder. 

He counted the time in the amount of slow, consistent breaths Rey took beside him, her body relaxing with everyone, as though she derived comfort from him being there at all. Whether it was the hormones, the anxiety about what had happened, and what could possibly happen, or that she was simply giving in to the idea of them he didn’t know, and he didn’t care. It felt good to curl up with her like this, to relax with her in his arms and drift off. 

“You know, you could always stay here. Permanently.” He wet his lips as he felt her tense up again, knowing all too well that he shouldn’t have brought it up, but the situation was just too damn perfect. “I mean it. We could work the rules to our favor. Then--if anything were to happen--.”

“I know,” she said softly, voice cutting him off before he could finish that particular sort of day dream, the one they were both vehemently praying would never come to pass. “I know. I’ll--I’ll think about it. How’s that?” 

It was more than he could’ve ever hoped for, and he kissed the base of her neck in way of thanks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the chapter was worth the wait! It's not a particularly long one, but it's a necessary one. Thank you, as ever, for reading and sticking with me! You're all wonderful and I adore you <3


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